Flushing, Queens + The Neverending Parade Of Cute

I'm finally recovered from the flu; I'm not sure if the Chinese strain is the same as the U.S. or Canadian strain, but  it sure knocked me out. I'm back to my old self now, though. Hope you all have stayed healthy, and continue to be healthy.

The last few weeks I've been panicking about leaving China. I know the economy back home isn't great and I worry about finding a job. But I also panic because I don't remember anymore how to live without China. How can I go back home and have no more contact with the Chinese language and culture and people? It has been almost my whole life here, how can it vanish into a black hole of nothingness overnight?

One option is to stay here and relocate to very developed and easy-to-live-in Eastern China (Shanghai!) and find a well paying job, which with my qualifications, is probably more possible than in the U.S. right now. The other is to seek out a Chinese community in the States where I can go to Chinese school and shop in Chinese shops and have interaction with Chinese people. I watched a movie here a few months ago about Flushing, Queens, and the large Chinese expat community there. I don't know much about Queens, and I had no idea this large "Chinatown" existed outside of Manhattan. In fact, I'm still not quite sure where Flushing actually is, only that it is in the Northwest part (I think?). (Manhattan is also an option, of course, but more expensive.) I probably won't do this, but the fact I'm thinking about it? It makes me realize how much China has become a part of my life.

And if you saw cute Chinese babies all day long, wouldn't you want to continue being a part of it too?

This baby was having a nap at the grocery store. (She's a rich baby, she's wearing a diaper.) Her mom was so flattered I wanted to take her picture. Really, I wanted to take the baby! (And I say that as someone who is not baby hungry in the least. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm missing that gene). So I settled for a picture. I'm constantly surrounded by The Cute.