First and foremost is reliable internet. This was important to me before, and any kind of hiccup with my connection would irritate me, but living in China, where connections are usually slow, limited by a firewall, with infrequent connectivity, has given me a new opinion.
This opinion has multiple parts,
First, I've learned to live without, for the most part, since internet is never assured, I've realized that the things I used it for previously were inconsequential, since I get by just fine when it isn't available.
Second, that I really rely on the internet for certain parts of my life, like news, communication and entertainment. While in China, my access to english language news is restricted to my ipad and the internet. Or out of date magazines that have biases, like the economist. So, as a result, I've started paying more attention to news stories, after discovering the ability of an ipad or other mobile platform inaccessing it (when I have internet).
Looking at news from a perspective outside of america gives it a vastly different tint. For example, take the recent news of PRISM, most people are concerned with it being used on domestic targets. No one seems to consider the fact that it is targetted on alien subjects, non-americans. Think about the population of the world, and realize how many people that covers. I've heard several friends scoff at the restriction of companies like google, facebook, yahoo, etc. who aren't allowed full functionality in China, those services instead served by native companies. In terms of business. It is a isolationist tendency, but when you see things like this program of spying, you begin to understand why China might want business based in China.
People sometimes wonder why America has negative publicity in other companies, without thinking about why other countries may dislike us. If you're worried about someone spying on your personal activities for no reason, imagine someone who finds out they may be surveilled simply because they aren't American.
But it's not as if America only does negative things. I recently had a chance to talk with a man fom Serra Leone. When he spoke of the US and China, he condemned china for what he explained as a selfish approach to wealth, and praised American help in constructing hospitals and defending civilians in his country.
But to get back to the original topic,
The second thing I miss is safe food. I never really think about the safety of food in America, but just assume it is safe. Here in China, I just assume the food isn't safe. For instance, I recently bought some pineapple from the campus supermarket, and was happily munching away on the delicious, golden fruit, until I felt a weird taste in my mouth, and a sensation akin to numbing or prickling of my nerves. I immediatly stopped and looked up the safety of pesticides used with pineapples. What I found convinced me to probably never eat a pineapple again, in China, and perhaps in America as well.
The problem with pineapples isn't just that some of the pesticides used to make it juicy and golden are unsafe, it's also the effects the cultivation of the fruit have on communities and cultures. For instance, in Costa Rica, the fruit barons like Dole are still exploiting the poor, politically weak residents of Costa Rica and Nicaragua in order to produce cheap fruit. In America, how often do you think about where your food comes from? Maybe you should do some research, or look at the way the animal who's muscle you're eating is raised. Who knows what you're putting in your body?
Third, when someone tells you a price of a service, or that you can't do something, are they trustworthy? Before, I just assumed if someone said they couldn't do something, that it just wasn't possible. Now, when someone says no, I no longer think, 'ok, guess not,' I think, are they really not able, or should I ask a different way, or offer them something. Maybe I was simply too trusting before or something, but now I look at a no more as a 'for you, no.' The reason being, sometimes in China, if someone says something isn't possible, it could just be apathy speaking, and if someone who is from China comes along and asks for the same thing, and persists in asking, they get what they wanted. I don't just feel that this is a difference of culture, I think it's part of culture everywhere, to an extent.
There may be more revelations I've had during my trip, but we'll stop here for now, and see if I can get some internet in order to upload this post.
-Ben
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