Three Major Ups and Downs of Expat Life.

I kick myself a little for not moving out of the U.S. sooner. Beijing has brought out something in me that I forgot I had in the states. The expatriate life is full of adventure, hilarity, and lots of shenanigans. Ups and down are becoming incredibly common and here are the biggest three of mine:

Up: Eating something new that tastes absolutely delicious.
I talk a lot about food in my blog posts because food is my favorite. Chinese food is constantly opening my eyes to a world of new and delicious things, flavors I didn't know existed, and food combinations I would of never dreamed up.

Down: Eating something new that tastes absolutely horrible. 
Naturally, with all the good there is some bad. A few times I've put something in my mouth that I immediately spit back out. Namely stinky tofu, fish flavored tofu, this weird duck dish, and some random milk candy one of my student's gave me. Normally it goes in my mouth and I immediately dive for the nearest trash can.

Up: All the wild nights out on the town.
Wild nights that end up in Tuk Tuks, with bottle service at a super club, eating Jian Bing on the streets, yelling at other expats on the streets, eating street crabs, being lifted on to stages to dance, randomly walking into the McDonald's at 4 am, getting home at 6 am, waking up and regretting my decisions.... I've had so much fun exploring Beijing nightlife. This place is crazy, and having other foreign friends around makes it that much crazier.

Down: Feeling your pants get a little tighter because of all the wild nights out on the town.
Ooooooops.

Up: All the amazing friends you make.
It's like we all live in different dorms at Sanlitun University.

Down: Constant going away parties for all the amazing friends you've made. 
This is easily the hardest of downs. This lifestyle is very fluid. New people are always coming in, old people are always going out. It feels like very few people stay around for longer than a year or two. You create incredible friendships with people that you know are going to have to go back home home (not our Beijing home) soon and you won't see as often. This part of expat existence reallllllly sucks.

There are obviously plenty more, but I feel like these are three of my biggest ups and downs in Beijing!