By Nancy Lewis

We all have various personalities in different scenarios. Or rather, we show various parts of our personalities to different men and women. I obtain that I am organized and punctual at perform, but effortless-going and relaxed with my good friends. I’m friendly and outgoing at parties, but introspective when I’m alone.

I’ve even noticed that the language I’m speaking alterations my personality a small. I’m outspoken and direct when I’m speaking English, whereas I tend to be additional indirect and nonchalant when I’m speaking Spanish. In Chinese, I’m substantially additional tentative, almost certainly due to my limited capacity in the language. All of these qualities are aspect of my personality, every becoming more dominant depending on the situations.

When I was living in Phoenix, Arizona, where I contact home, I was normally organizing parties and get-togethers, inviting buddies to go out. I headed social organizations in town and even began a Spanish school, which brought like-minded people with each other in a social atmosphere. There were film outings, weekend hikes, coffee socials, language exchanges, and potluck dinners galore. My social-o-meter was turned way up.

So when I initially embarked on the adventure of getting a traveler, I expected to bring that social personality with me. I anticipated to meet scores of other travelers and share tales with them more than glasses of the regional swill. I anticipated to make lots of local good friends who would teach me about their language and culture whilst I taught them about mine. I had hopes of expanding my social circle to the planet, embracing everyone that came inside attain.

However, immediately after living as a foreigner for more than a year now, I’ve discovered that my traveler character is unexpectedly introverted. That is not to say that I’m antisocial. I still go out with close friends and attend social events where I could possibly meet other travelers. At least when a week, I eat lunch at a noodle shop near my apartment where I happily chat with the owners in my rudimentary Chinese. And I welcome the approach of strangers on the street who want to practice their English with me.

But I uncover that the volume on my social-o-meter is exceptionally lower. Rather, I get pleasure from becoming an observer, sitting and watching persons as they go about their every day lives. While I can experience a lot by engaging with other folks, when I sit quietly and observe, I maybe see a truer version of life.

Living in Shanghai is like living in any big city: we have Starbucks & McDonalds, Wal-Mart & IKEA, reliable public transportation and lots of English-friendly restaurants and bars around town. In fact, regrettably, it is so effortless to be a foreigner in Shanghai that occasionally I overlook that I live in China.

With all this city life going on around me, I nonetheless come in contact with the authentic Chinese way of life daily. I do not have to go searching for it down some narrow alleyway in the maze of old Shanghai. All I have to do is spend attention. If I just sit and observe life in Shanghai, some quite wonderful factors happen.

In spite of the higher-speed pace of city life, I see chivalrous Shanghainese men carrying purses for their girlfriends, their arms lovingly wrapped around the ladies’ shoulders. I notice folks politely standing to give their coveted subway seat to an older particular person. And I meet countless individuals who happily go out of their way to support me navigate this baffling city.

Though most people here are utilised to seeing foreigners walking about, youngsters are routinely shocked to see me. The younger ones stare at me as I pass them on the street. The older ones are clumsily discrete as they point me out to their mothers in the elevator. Some of the bolder kids come over to take a closer appear, wide-eyed at my green eyes and light brown hair. I have even caught some adults providing me a second glance, then speedily trying to hide their interest. I just smile and wave at them, greeting them with a friendly “Ni hao”.

In the mornings I see older men and women practicing tai chi in the parks. In the evenings, I stroll by the identical park and see enterprise men and girls working out just after work, jogging around the pond or utilizing the workout machines there. I pass through the scene, a witness to how equivalent we all are.

As I walk down the street, I am engulfed by a swarm of smells, pleasant aromas of bread baking or soups boiling, mixed in with the stench of old grease and stinky tofu. Inside my apartment building, I stumble into yet another waft of spices coming from the other apartments on my floor, authentic meals becoming ready.

One afternoon, I was sitting at a preferred coffee shop, tapping away at my laptop when I decided to take a break to see what was going on outside. As I looked up, I noticed a man and his daughter in the square in front of the coffee shop where I was sitting. He was proudly teaching her to roller skate, she wobbly with hesitation, he stoic and confident for her. She produced it a couple of feet on her personal just before she reached for him once again. Results.

A different day, I stopped for lunch at a small noodle shop. Considering the fact that it was right after the lunch rush, there were only a few people scattered at tables around the shop consuming their noodles or patiently waiting for their order to arrive. The shop was quiet except for the gentle schwop of noodles becoming sucked up as persons ate. I quickly added my personal schwop to the tune, generating music in the silence.

At evening, I frequently hear the clack-a-clack of a well-known dice game played at the bars mixed in with the rhythms of the music playing on the sound program and the excited chattering of the Chinese patrons who have come to relax with buddies. In some cases I attempt to bridge the gap by offering a stilted sentence in Chinese to the next table. I usually get an appreciative smile in return.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nancy Lewis is a freelance writer and traveler, at the moment living in Shanghai, China. You can read a lot more about her adventures on her blog Wandering Solo.

[“Going Up” by Adam Chang/Flickr “Noodle Shop” by Jasmine Park/Flickr “Shanghai Meals Market” by Abby’s Mom/Flickr]