Beijing vs. Home

Christina and I at the Today Show set on the night we went to Athletics at the Bird's Nest. Despite heavy security, we bribed a guard to let us in with a couple of shiny Purdue pins. NO, we did not see a show, we were there an hour after it was over

Jason and I reflected on our time in Beijing… China… Asia… what have you, over a nice Pizza Hut dinner one day. It came up that many people have been asking, "So how does Beijing compare to home?" We tossed around ideas for a while, but quickly realized that in this case, we really aren't comparing apples to apples.

Beijing has 16 million people. Wrap your brain around that for a moment. Indianapolis has almost 800,000, Lafayette/West Lafayette has about 90,000, and Chicago just has 2.8 million residents. Heck, New York City only has 8 million! When I describe “mass amounts” of people, I’m not even kidding.

Given that we've been treading water in the middle of this metropolis with little to no direction or instruction for six weeks now, I think we've managed pretty well! Imagine if someone dropped you off in the middle of NYC with two suitcases and some hand-sanitizer, how would you get along? Now picture the scenario happening entirely in Chinese.

The bottom line is that Beijing in no way compares to home. It can't be compared to home. Sure, there are different customs and traditions and ways of living, but Beijing and “home” as I know it are not comparable worlds. The truth is that this place in no way stacks up to my home, and, on the same token really, my home in no way stacks up to Beijing.

XOXO