I moved a bit further away from the place where I work, so if I ride my bike it takes about 20 minutes to get there. If I had a bike with regular size wheels it would take about 10 or 15 minutes, but that's not the purpose of this post.
Not five minutes after I left the house the other day, I was furiously pedaling away when a guy on an electric scooter slid up along side of me. His close proximity encouraged a disapproving glance from me. I was then treated to a typical, "HalloO!" which I ignored, hoping he would scooter away. He was not to be deterred, and tried again and again until I finally said hello back. Conversations with HalloOers usually stop here, but not this one. He continued to scooter along side of me then managed to get out, "You is speak Chinese?" with a horrible pronunciation, to which I replied, "No." I know, it was a lie, but I was not in the mood to be chattered away at by a random Chinese dude on my way to work in the morning. After another long pause he attempted, "You is study China?" to which I again replied, "No." Long pause. "You with me want be friend?" "No."
This awful conversation continued with incredibly long pauses in between while he tried to think of what to say and I prayed he would turn and go a different way. In his terrible English he asked if I worked here, what I did, and then, insisted again and again that I teach him English and be his friend. To which I used my well practiced, "No."
What?! How can I be so cruel? Tell someone to their face no, you don't want to be their friend? Have I no heart? In my defense I didn't want to teach him English because I don't have time, that is true. I also didn't want to teach him because his English is very bad. On the other hand, I didn't want to be his friend because I just didn't want to be his friend. How can we be friends? We're hardly be able to communicate. And more importantly, he only wanted to be my friend to show to his friends. Look-ah, look-ah! Laowai! A pretty foreign girl! I've been brought to enough dinners and KTVs as an object of interest and ornamentation.
He followed me all the way to work. To get rid of him and not give him my phone number I even took back my lie and spoke Chinese. Though everything I said was in an attempt to make him go away and not give him my phone number it was of no use. He was amazingly persistant. It seemed the only way to get him to stop pestering me was to give him my number. He immediately sent me two messages after we had parted. He sent me another message the next day. I never replied to any of them, and I haven't heard from him for over a week.
I know I am a representative of foreigners here in the little city of Changzhou, but there is only so much halloOing, impolite staring, and attempts to be friends for the novelty of having a foreign friend that I can take. Chinese people insist they are very friendly. And I can not argue that most of the time they are very friendly. But at the point of forcing your friendship upon someone, I no longer find it friendly. Yes, those who approach foreigners on the street are quite bold, especially compared to my meek and silent university students. However, they don't seem to take into consideration the foreigner's needs or desires, even when the foreigner is quite clear about how they feel. It is fantastic that these people are exposed to non-Chinese people riding bikes, taking the bus, and working among them, but they need to realize that we are also people - not animals at a zoo, novelty props, or free English lessons.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Logical Flow or Lack Thereof
The weather finally started getting colder in November. It was more like winter. For a couple days, it was down to about 1 or 2 degrees celsius (34 degrees fahrenheit). But a week later it was back up to 16-18 degrees celsius (60-65 degrees fahrenheit or so). Accordingly, I wore wool socks, sweaters, a hat, and a coat when it was cold; a shirt and jacket again when it warmed up.
One of the warm days that occured after the cold snap, I found myself in class wearing a tanktop and button-up shirt with a student wearing a turtleneck sweater and winter coat.
I told her I thought she was wearing too many clothes today, wasn't she hot?
She said yes, she was a little warm.
I asked if she was wearing another shirt under her sweater.
She said she was wearing a long sleeved shirt underneath her sweater and long underwear under her pants.
I asked her why she was wearing so many layers, it was 16 degrees today!
She said she had put on the clothes last week, when it was cold.
I said, but today it is warm.
She said, Yes, but I put the clothes on last week.
I asked, Can't you take them off?
She said she was afraid she'd get cold if she took them off.
I agreed she might get cold if it was still cold outside, but it wasn't.
She looked at me a moment then said she was still afraid she'd feel cold.
Our conversation about clothing and temperature ended at this point because I really couldn't see the point of continuing. I'd witnessed similar conversations between students and teachers - the students insisting that one must wear long underwear because it is November and the foreign teacher explaining that even though it is November it is still above 10 degrees, so you don't need to wear long underwear yet. There can be no satisfactory end to this conversation because the logical sequence between the two lines of thinking are utterly incompatible, if not opposed to one another. This difference in logical thinking causes much frustration between Chinese and westerns.
One of the warm days that occured after the cold snap, I found myself in class wearing a tanktop and button-up shirt with a student wearing a turtleneck sweater and winter coat.
I told her I thought she was wearing too many clothes today, wasn't she hot?
She said yes, she was a little warm.
I asked if she was wearing another shirt under her sweater.
She said she was wearing a long sleeved shirt underneath her sweater and long underwear under her pants.
I asked her why she was wearing so many layers, it was 16 degrees today!
She said she had put on the clothes last week, when it was cold.
I said, but today it is warm.
She said, Yes, but I put the clothes on last week.
I asked, Can't you take them off?
She said she was afraid she'd get cold if she took them off.
I agreed she might get cold if it was still cold outside, but it wasn't.
She looked at me a moment then said she was still afraid she'd feel cold.
Our conversation about clothing and temperature ended at this point because I really couldn't see the point of continuing. I'd witnessed similar conversations between students and teachers - the students insisting that one must wear long underwear because it is November and the foreign teacher explaining that even though it is November it is still above 10 degrees, so you don't need to wear long underwear yet. There can be no satisfactory end to this conversation because the logical sequence between the two lines of thinking are utterly incompatible, if not opposed to one another. This difference in logical thinking causes much frustration between Chinese and westerns.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Geography Lessons
Americans are notoriously bad at geography. I clearly recall my elementary school teachers regalling us with this information prior to our test over the countries in Africa. In a way, it was encouraging. I felt compelled to single-handedly raise the level of geographical knowledge in America. I went home and studied with new vigor the globe I received as a Christmas present at the age of six (which I had spotted on the top shelf of my parents' closet weeks before). I remember spinning that thing around like mad then stopping it with one finger to see where I ended up. I remember carressing the mountain ranges under my fingertips. I remember it getting dusty on the shelf when I was in high school.
Americans may be terrible at geography, but we can't be that much worse than Chinese. In the first two classes that beginner students take we teach them countries, nationalities, and languages of more than 30 countries. Which countries is up to the students and teacher. The students are usually asked to name some countries they learned from the computer software or happen to remember from their school days. They usually come up with China, Japan, Korea (which, I have to tell them, is not a country), America, Canada, England, France, and Germany. Usually if I prod them they can add Poland, Brazil, and Egypt. After this, I'll teach them other countries that border China, European countries, and Mexico.
What I realized though, is that they don't even know which countries are near China in the first place. I concede that America has it easy as far as the number of bordering countries is concerned, but I really think you should know what countries border your own.
Outside of Asia they have little or no concept of where countries are. If I ask them what continent Brazil is on they will often guess Europe. Since in Brazil they speak Portugese I teach them where Portugal is. Then I tell them that all other South American countries speak Spanish. More than once I have been asked, "How do you know all of this?" It is common knowledge for me. I don't know what to tell them.
After my free talk class on Monday a student told me they don't teach much geography in school. They don't focus on geography because it is not on the college entrance exams. The entrance exams are concered with Chinese, English, and math, then two subjects the students can chose themselves, like physics, biology, or history. The student who mentioned this then told me they should pay more attention to geography in school because it is important to know.
So this Monday we learned all the countries that border China. Maybe next week we'll learn the countries of South America. And next week Europe. The next week Africa. Which means I have to get online and make sure I know where everything is! One thing I really appreciate and enjoy about free talk is that it can be used as an opportunity to teach myself.
Americans may be terrible at geography, but we can't be that much worse than Chinese. In the first two classes that beginner students take we teach them countries, nationalities, and languages of more than 30 countries. Which countries is up to the students and teacher. The students are usually asked to name some countries they learned from the computer software or happen to remember from their school days. They usually come up with China, Japan, Korea (which, I have to tell them, is not a country), America, Canada, England, France, and Germany. Usually if I prod them they can add Poland, Brazil, and Egypt. After this, I'll teach them other countries that border China, European countries, and Mexico.
What I realized though, is that they don't even know which countries are near China in the first place. I concede that America has it easy as far as the number of bordering countries is concerned, but I really think you should know what countries border your own.
Outside of Asia they have little or no concept of where countries are. If I ask them what continent Brazil is on they will often guess Europe. Since in Brazil they speak Portugese I teach them where Portugal is. Then I tell them that all other South American countries speak Spanish. More than once I have been asked, "How do you know all of this?" It is common knowledge for me. I don't know what to tell them.
After my free talk class on Monday a student told me they don't teach much geography in school. They don't focus on geography because it is not on the college entrance exams. The entrance exams are concered with Chinese, English, and math, then two subjects the students can chose themselves, like physics, biology, or history. The student who mentioned this then told me they should pay more attention to geography in school because it is important to know.
So this Monday we learned all the countries that border China. Maybe next week we'll learn the countries of South America. And next week Europe. The next week Africa. Which means I have to get online and make sure I know where everything is! One thing I really appreciate and enjoy about free talk is that it can be used as an opportunity to teach myself.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Always Look Both Both Ways
This was definitely inevitable.
Long ago, I concluded that bicycles and electric bikes are much more dangerous to pedestrians than cars, buses, trucks, tricyles, and the other assorted forms of transportation. While cars, buses, and trucks have noisy motors and honk incessantly, bikes and e-bikes are silent. Tricycles simply go to slow to be dangerous and they usually have an old metal pot they bang on to signal their coming.
All gussied up in my new dress I bought while back in America and some wonderful high heels, I proceeded out into into the gusty Friday morning. Running five minutes late like usual, I spied the #6 bus down the road and didn't want to miss it, so I quickly looked right then left then took a step forward. I immediately collided with an old lady on a bicycle going the wrong way down the road, spun around, fell down, and gave everyone in the street a nice peak at my undies thanks to a timely gust of wind. Stunned, I smoothed my dress down as the old lady chastised me and pedaled away. I picked myself up with as much dignity as I could muster, gathered my belongings, and, since I had missed the bus and was feeling utterly embarrassed, took a taxi. I examined my minor injuries in the taxi: scraped hands and a nasty bruise on my calf.
Maybe it was the dress, maybe it was the wind, maybe it was the urgency of catching the bus, but for some reason I forgot that when I looked both ways before crossing the street I needed to look at both sides of the road both ways.
Ai ya.
Long ago, I concluded that bicycles and electric bikes are much more dangerous to pedestrians than cars, buses, trucks, tricyles, and the other assorted forms of transportation. While cars, buses, and trucks have noisy motors and honk incessantly, bikes and e-bikes are silent. Tricycles simply go to slow to be dangerous and they usually have an old metal pot they bang on to signal their coming.
All gussied up in my new dress I bought while back in America and some wonderful high heels, I proceeded out into into the gusty Friday morning. Running five minutes late like usual, I spied the #6 bus down the road and didn't want to miss it, so I quickly looked right then left then took a step forward. I immediately collided with an old lady on a bicycle going the wrong way down the road, spun around, fell down, and gave everyone in the street a nice peak at my undies thanks to a timely gust of wind. Stunned, I smoothed my dress down as the old lady chastised me and pedaled away. I picked myself up with as much dignity as I could muster, gathered my belongings, and, since I had missed the bus and was feeling utterly embarrassed, took a taxi. I examined my minor injuries in the taxi: scraped hands and a nasty bruise on my calf.
Maybe it was the dress, maybe it was the wind, maybe it was the urgency of catching the bus, but for some reason I forgot that when I looked both ways before crossing the street I needed to look at both sides of the road both ways.
Ai ya.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Swapsticks
It has recently come to my attention that I prefer chopsticks to a fork.
I've had my suspicions for a while. There is a restaurant I often go to with a couple of my Chinese friends called Water Paradise, where they have western and Chinese food, so they give the customers forks, knives, spoons, and chopsticks. I usually use chopsticks, unless I'm having a bad chopsticks day and making a mess like a 4-year-old, then my friends urge me to use a fork. I will oblige, but I still drop quite a bit of food. I don't think being a messy is because I can't use chopsticks but because I'm clumsy at times.
During Mid-Autumn Day Festival I went to a performance dinner shindig at the Art College outside of town. They served western-food and I ate with a fork and knife. It felt awkward. This was the first time I noticed my fork-and-knife skills declining.
Last week I had dinner at Xinjiang restaurant. Xinjiang food is more like Middle-Eastern food (i.e. not chopped into tiny bits like Chinese food which makes it easy to eat with chopsticks). The waiter took away the chopsticks sitting on the table and left us with only forks and knives. I proceeded with the given utensils, but felt myself longing for chopsticks. After a couple minutes I asked the waiter to please give me chopsticks. I ate the rest of the meal with chopsticks in my right hand and a fork in my left.
This didn't happen until now for one main reason I can think of. Some might say, "You've been in China too long!" I counter that with the fact that my other foreign friends, who have been here longer than me, still prefer forks and knives. What happened, is that last year I was eating at home more often, with a fork and knife. This year I rarely eat at home or with a fork and knife. I usually eat out for lunch and dinner. When I eat out I'm most likely to eat Chinese food because it is cheap and fast. So, I've got this strange combination of East and West going on that others find peculiar and I am getting comfortable with.
I've had my suspicions for a while. There is a restaurant I often go to with a couple of my Chinese friends called Water Paradise, where they have western and Chinese food, so they give the customers forks, knives, spoons, and chopsticks. I usually use chopsticks, unless I'm having a bad chopsticks day and making a mess like a 4-year-old, then my friends urge me to use a fork. I will oblige, but I still drop quite a bit of food. I don't think being a messy is because I can't use chopsticks but because I'm clumsy at times.
During Mid-Autumn Day Festival I went to a performance dinner shindig at the Art College outside of town. They served western-food and I ate with a fork and knife. It felt awkward. This was the first time I noticed my fork-and-knife skills declining.
Last week I had dinner at Xinjiang restaurant. Xinjiang food is more like Middle-Eastern food (i.e. not chopped into tiny bits like Chinese food which makes it easy to eat with chopsticks). The waiter took away the chopsticks sitting on the table and left us with only forks and knives. I proceeded with the given utensils, but felt myself longing for chopsticks. After a couple minutes I asked the waiter to please give me chopsticks. I ate the rest of the meal with chopsticks in my right hand and a fork in my left.
This didn't happen until now for one main reason I can think of. Some might say, "You've been in China too long!" I counter that with the fact that my other foreign friends, who have been here longer than me, still prefer forks and knives. What happened, is that last year I was eating at home more often, with a fork and knife. This year I rarely eat at home or with a fork and knife. I usually eat out for lunch and dinner. When I eat out I'm most likely to eat Chinese food because it is cheap and fast. So, I've got this strange combination of East and West going on that others find peculiar and I am getting comfortable with.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
The Translator
This year my Chinese has improved quickly. One consequence of this that I did not predict was serving as a translator between my male foreign friends and their Chinese...interests. This varies from translating test messages like, "What's up?", "I don't understand what you say.", and "I'm at work now.", to setting up dates and telling them that a translator will be coming as well.
This is an awkward situation for me. Every day I hear about the foreign men and their Chinese conquests. I watch these business deals that are masked as relationships and don't know what to do or think. If I put on my feminist glasses it is outraging. But I cannot afford to be outraged because that would be all consuming and would make life here impossible. (Like being afraid of riding in taxis and crossing the road and germy kitchens - if I fear them, I cannot live my day to day life here.) It is a fact of life here that women are for sale.
These women make lots of money; much more than me. It is a very lucrative career. Can I despise them for wanting a better life and taking advantage of (foreign) men to obtain their goal? I don't know. I waver between pity, disgust, and anger at the men who go to the clubs looking for these women and treat them like objects.
As abhorent as it is, both of them are getting what they desire - the girls get money and the men get "companionship". Both are using one another in ways that I was taught were completely wrong, but they do this within a moral void. China seems like a huge moral void to me at times. Even more so than in Las Vegas: what happens in China stays in China, and it is improper to judge people on their actions here. Away from their home country and people who keep them morally in line, foreigners can do whatever they want. Watching all of this places severe doubt in my mind of the innate morality of human beings.
This is an awkward situation for me. Every day I hear about the foreign men and their Chinese conquests. I watch these business deals that are masked as relationships and don't know what to do or think. If I put on my feminist glasses it is outraging. But I cannot afford to be outraged because that would be all consuming and would make life here impossible. (Like being afraid of riding in taxis and crossing the road and germy kitchens - if I fear them, I cannot live my day to day life here.) It is a fact of life here that women are for sale.
These women make lots of money; much more than me. It is a very lucrative career. Can I despise them for wanting a better life and taking advantage of (foreign) men to obtain their goal? I don't know. I waver between pity, disgust, and anger at the men who go to the clubs looking for these women and treat them like objects.
As abhorent as it is, both of them are getting what they desire - the girls get money and the men get "companionship". Both are using one another in ways that I was taught were completely wrong, but they do this within a moral void. China seems like a huge moral void to me at times. Even more so than in Las Vegas: what happens in China stays in China, and it is improper to judge people on their actions here. Away from their home country and people who keep them morally in line, foreigners can do whatever they want. Watching all of this places severe doubt in my mind of the innate morality of human beings.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Listening
I must admit that internet access has greatly improved since I came to China last year. Many websites are now available that were either not available at all before or only on random and rare days: Wikipedia, Blogspot, BBC, NPR, CNN...
The government definitely still has their hand in monitoring and limiting access though. Check out this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7577014.stm
iTunes still isn't working, and it's now the 25th.
Being here in China during the Olympic games was pretty much the same as being back in States except for some friendly competition and the amusement of comparing Chinese-run lists of the medal count and American-run lists. Oh, patriotism.
I find that Chinese patriotism frightens the West. Westerners find it difficult to separate Chinese patriotism from its ties with nationalism and the wars, secessions, imperialistic moves, and the like historically associated with nationalism. In reaction to their fear, I feel that the western media pounced on every opportunity to criticize China during the Olympic Games from age indiscretions, to Tibet protesters, to regulated media. I am in no way defending all actions of the Chinese government during the Games, but from here I witnessed the extensive effort the Chinese went through to ensure that the Games left a positive impact on the rest of the world, and it frustrates me that the media seemingly came to China looking for problems. When criticizing China it is essential to remember that it is a developing nation with a long way to go; and they know that, and are taking huge steps to reach their goal. I have seen the progress with my own eyes and in my own day to day life. In order to win the bid for the Olympic Games in the first place, China had to go through extensive reform efforts. China is a developing nation cruising along at lightening speed not only to to catch up to the West, but with a desire to surpass the West. It is no wonder Chinese patriotism frightens Westerners.
I hope that Westerners, especially Americans, take this fear of China and turn it into something positive. Americans had become complacant with their place as number one in the world, and are now scrambling to pull themselves together as the EU and China grow increasingly powerful. I hope Americans will take this opportunity to revamp the education system, open our minds, and step it up a couple of notches.
I bought a T-shirt at the supermarket the other day. It says (in English) "Listen to China's Voice!" and in Chinese, "Go China!" I don't think it is a matter of listening - the world is listening with rapt attention - it is a matter of how the world interprets what they hear and how they react.
The government definitely still has their hand in monitoring and limiting access though. Check out this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7577014.stm
iTunes still isn't working, and it's now the 25th.
Being here in China during the Olympic games was pretty much the same as being back in States except for some friendly competition and the amusement of comparing Chinese-run lists of the medal count and American-run lists. Oh, patriotism.
I find that Chinese patriotism frightens the West. Westerners find it difficult to separate Chinese patriotism from its ties with nationalism and the wars, secessions, imperialistic moves, and the like historically associated with nationalism. In reaction to their fear, I feel that the western media pounced on every opportunity to criticize China during the Olympic Games from age indiscretions, to Tibet protesters, to regulated media. I am in no way defending all actions of the Chinese government during the Games, but from here I witnessed the extensive effort the Chinese went through to ensure that the Games left a positive impact on the rest of the world, and it frustrates me that the media seemingly came to China looking for problems. When criticizing China it is essential to remember that it is a developing nation with a long way to go; and they know that, and are taking huge steps to reach their goal. I have seen the progress with my own eyes and in my own day to day life. In order to win the bid for the Olympic Games in the first place, China had to go through extensive reform efforts. China is a developing nation cruising along at lightening speed not only to to catch up to the West, but with a desire to surpass the West. It is no wonder Chinese patriotism frightens Westerners.
I hope that Westerners, especially Americans, take this fear of China and turn it into something positive. Americans had become complacant with their place as number one in the world, and are now scrambling to pull themselves together as the EU and China grow increasingly powerful. I hope Americans will take this opportunity to revamp the education system, open our minds, and step it up a couple of notches.
I bought a T-shirt at the supermarket the other day. It says (in English) "Listen to China's Voice!" and in Chinese, "Go China!" I don't think it is a matter of listening - the world is listening with rapt attention - it is a matter of how the world interprets what they hear and how they react.
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