Summer in Shenyang and Some 'Merica Lovin'

The city of Shenyang has two major seasons: summer and winter. Most people reading into Shenyang hear a lot about the harsh winter, which lasts about 6-7 months from late October to mid April. You can look back into the archives to hear me go on about the climate during that season, but I can sum it up in one word: frigid. Spring is short, about 6 weeks in May-June, and the weather pleasantly surprises us all, especially after being frozen for so long. I missed part of it this year when I was on R&R, so it seemed even shorter for me.

Compared to the rest of China, summer in Shenyang is mild. Unlike the southern cities of Guangzhou and Shanghai that experience heavy bouts of rain and the oppressive heat & humidity, Shenyang stays fairly dry except for the intermittent thunderstorm. Even Beijing experiences temperatures in the mid-90s and exceptionally high humidity. Out of all the Chinese cities I've visited in the summer, I prefer Shenyang's climate to all of them. I often say that we see more blue-sky days here than any other city in the country (which is not to say we don't see our fair share of smoggy days, but they are interspersed with clear days more often).

The Consulate gets pretty busy during the summertime, having come unfrozen after the deep dark winter. We get more official visitors, more visa applicants, and a slew of incoming/outgoing officers. The turnover is palpable. It's also a season of events, with the annual Independence Day Celebration and this year, the upcoming Liaoning Games (China's own version of the Olympics). Needless to say, in the midst of preparation, hails and farewells, I've been busy.

America the Beautiful
Photo credit: C. Stein 2013

The July 4th Event planning starts very early, back in March, with theme-choosing, vendor solicitation, and invite-sending. Thankfully, we have a lot of hands-on officers who help coordinate different tasks. By the day of the event, almost everyone at the Consulate has contributed to the party in some way. And it truly showed this year -- we had a fabulous event.

We held the party at a recently-opened luxury hotel in Shenyang, and every element was coordinated down to the finest detail. From the food and flowers to the tourism vendors, an extreme amount of attention was paid to perfection. And as one would expect, the result was an event that went off without a hitch. Having experienced two July 4th parties in my tour here, I can say that we took all the lessons learned from last year's party and improved greatly on the outcome. If anything, I hope that we set the bar for next year's pretty high.

Incredible food spreads & flowers
Photo credit: C. Stein 2013

In addition to the official party held by the Consulate (for official contacts), the local AmCham branch held a party down in Dalian for Americans, expats, and local Chinese involved in the AmCham community. A group of us from the Consulate headed down for a night by train to attend. Although there was a good amount of travel involved for just a one-day event, I felt refreshed after heading down there. I felt the same feeling at the family party held by one of the Consulate families in the suburbs. For a few hours, we felt like we weren't in China. We were among other Americans, listening to a live American music, enjoying fresh clean air, and eating hearty American food with our friends. To end the both nights, there were even fireworks. I echo others in saying that this brought a tear to my eye.

Fireworks in Dalian
(iPhone)

I'm normally pretty sentimental about patriotic things, but this specific moment, watching fireworks and celebrating July 4th in China, was super important to me. For some background, last year, I was blessed to be able to spend July 4th with my family at home in the USA. I had the chance to watch amazing fireworks not once, but twice! First with my mom and stepdad at the Midway Fire Station in Doylestown, PA and then again with my dad, sister, brother-in-law, and extended family down at Ocean City, NJ. The whole experience of coming home after a year abroad was emotional, but being back on our nation's holiday as an employee of the US government, that filled me with a sense of pride that I hadn't experienced before.

On a daily basis, I don't actively think of myself as a representative of America abroad. I live my life as I wish, with a subtle subconscious reminder that I am a government employee. Yes, it's obvious to just about everyone in this city that I am not local. They don't know that I'm an American, though. I could just as easily be French, Canadian, German, or Russian. But when I was in America for July 4th last year, I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs: "I AM AN AMERICAN! I LOVE MY COUNTRY!" Whether it was the sense of freedom and liberty I was feeling, or the fact that I could walk into Walmart and choose from 25 different kinds of pasta sauce, I knew I loved the US.

My love of country amplified a hundred times being outside of America for its birthday. Americans can easily forget how great their country is when they live there. The convenience of everything. We truly are lucky as Americans to have what we have and access to so much more (information, goods, opportunity, you name it). I am so thankful to have the chance to come home every two years to "repatriate" and immerse myself in the good ol' American culture. During the time at home, I think we (as Foreign Service folk) come to realize how proud we are of the US and it helps us recommit to our mission to represent/protect this great country abroad. It also gives us a chance to realize what is truly important to us in life, whether it's family, friends, fresh air, or freedom.

So here's to you, America. Happy 237th. You're one classy broad.

Happy Birthday, America
from Cabby