“You don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone,” Cinderella lamented, and it’s true. And when you live in China, you realize certain things are precious indeed because now you’re living without them. Here are 64 things you won’t take for granted again:

1. Privacy
2. Anonymity
3. Personal space
4. Traffic laws that actually get obeyed
5. Ample parking spaces
6. Your own car 
7. Dishwashers (the appliance, not the person)
8. Clothes dryers (i.e. not having your laundry depend on the weather)
9. Central a/c and heat
10. Tea cups and mugs that have handles
11. Soft mattresses
12. Large trash cans
13. Garbage disposals in the sink
14. Large refrigerators
15. Ample counter space
16. Insulation
17. Pipes that are inside the walls
18. Bathtubs
19. Free toilet paper in public bathrooms
20. Free soap in public bathrooms
21. Free paper towels in public bathrooms
22. Free napkins at restaurants
23. Free ketchup at fast food restaurants
24. Free water in large glasses at restaurants
25. Potable water from every faucet/tap 
26. Getting mail and packages delivered to your actual place of residence
27. The complexities, nuances, and beauty of your native language
28. On-time flights
29. Non-smoking areas that truly are non-smoking areas
30. Never having to have a Plan B for if the power goes out
31. Never having to have a Plan B for if the water gets turned off
32. Never having to have a Plan B for if you run out of gas
33. Wedding celebrations that don’t involve firecrackers at 6 a.m.
34. Wedding celebrations that don’t involve forced drinking and smoking
35. Free plastic bags at the supermarket
36. Baggers at the supermarket
37. Especially baggers who know not to put canned goods on top of the loaf of bread
38. Supermarkets that don’t have a fishy odor
39. Supermarkets that don’t have bullhorns
40. Supermarkets with carts/trolleys big enough to actually put all your stuff in
41. Milk that comes in gallon jugs
42. Shampoo and conditioner that aren’t waxy/sticky
43. Facial lotions that aren’t whitening
44. Toothpaste that isn’t racist
45. Cake done right
46. Ice cream that’s not freezer burned
47. Bread that’s not sweet
48. Walnuts that aren’t smoky
49. Cheese. All of it.
50. Cultures that teach that it’s rude to stare at people who are different
51. And that it’s even ruder to point at them
52. And that it’s the rudest to shout out the thing that makes that person different, as if they weren’t aware of it already
53. Baseball
54. Swimming without a swim cap
55. Going to the park without checking the AQI first
56. Silence
57. Closets
58. Garages
59. Yards/gardens
60. Public libraries
61. Drive-thru anything
62. Clothes that fit off the rack
63. Shoes that fit off the rack
64. Just how admirable it is for anyone to attempt learning another language and living in another culture

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