http://www.due-east.org Wed, 28 Sep 2011 05:54:05 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 http://www.due-east.org/2011/09/27/bank-of-stupid/ http://www.due-east.org/2011/09/27/bank-of-stupid/#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:54:44 +0000 Due-East http://www.due-east.org/?p=675   Allow me to vent for a second about a sterling example of typical Chinese customer disservice I ran into today. Last week, I lost my wallet getting out of a taxi. That was my own dumb fault; I should’ve been more aware of my personal belongings when I got out. [...]]]>     Allow me to vent for a second about a sterling example of typical Chinese customer disservice I ran into today. Last week, I lost my wallet getting out of a taxi. That was my own dumb fault; I should’ve been more aware of my personal belongings when I got out. Of course, in my wallet were my credit cards from my American bank as well as my ATM card from Bank of China.   It was extremely frustrating, yes. But as frustrated as I was, I thought, “It’s no big deal. I only lost a couple hundred Renminbi, not American dollars. So I’ll just contact my bank in the states to get a new credit card and a new bank card issued. And since I’m planning to move in a week, and China’s banking system is outright retarded, I’m going to have to close my bank account here and open a new one in the new city anyway. I’ll just do that, and everything will be OK.”   When I got home, I called my bank’s customer service number to get my credit card replaced. The customer service agent was competent and helpful, and he did everything you’d expect from someone whose sole purpose is to serve you. He sympathized with me (not that I needed that, but it was a nice gesture), checked my card to make sure there were no new purchases made with it, canceled my old number, and issued me a new card with a new number. Then, he kindly connected me with someone who could help me replace my ATM card. That customer service agent was awesome, too. The whole process was totally painless and took about 3 minutes. My new cards should arrive within a few weeks. It was glorious! Now, I don’t want this to sound like a pro-America post, because it’s not. I’m not remotely patriotic and consider myself a human being much more than a citizen of any country, but when I hung up the phone, I really missed America because 99 times out of 100, that’s how quickly and easily things are handled back home. That’s just not how it works over here, though.   Before I get into how things went down today, let me educate you a bit on the Chinese banking system as I know it. In America, if you open an account at Bank of America or Chase or whatever other bank you wanna use, no matter where in the whole country you are, if you go to a branch of that bank to withdraw money (be it via ATM or in person), you are NOT charged a fee. Why would you be charged a fee when it’s the same company, right? That makes perfect sense to a Westerner and is totally reasonable. But in China, it’s the exact opposite because so many things here aren’t remotely close to being anywhere near what might be considered in some circles as halfway around the block from the area where reasonable once played as a young child. Here, it’s more like, “Well, this isn’t the city where you opened the account, and so we’re gonna have to charge you a handling fee because it’s a lot harder for us to press a button here on our computer than it is for someone to press a button on their computer in the city where you opened your account. Plus, I’d rather play with my cell phone than do any actual work.”   So this is the basic situation as it played out today:   Me: I’m moving, and I’d like to close my account.
Girl behind the glass: Let me see your ATM card.
Me: I don’t have my card. I lost my wallet last week…
Girl behind the glass: Oh, just fill this out. Write your English name here, again here, your phone number here, your address here, and then sign down here.
Me: Ok….Here you go.
Girl behind the glass: Ok, you can come get your money in 7 days.
Me: I’m sorry..?
Girl behind the glass: You can get your money in 7 days.
Me: Why can’t I get it now?
Girl behind the glass: Because you lost your card. You have to wait 7 days before you can withdraw your money. Most people who lose their cards end up finding them, so you have to wait 7 days before you can close your account.
Me: Why? That doesn’t make sense. My closing my account has absolutely nothing to do with my having lost my card. I’m closing my account so that I can re-open an account in the new city where I’m moving to so I don’t have to get charged a fee every time I wanna withdraw money.
Girl behind the glass: That’s the rule.
Me: But this has NOTHING TO DO WITH MY HAVING LOST MY CARD! This is totally unreasonable…
Girl behind the glass: The rules are the rules. You can only do your best to take care of the majority, but you can’t always take care of the minority.
Me (hoping to guilt her into actually trying to help): Back in America, regardless of whether I had my card or not, this process would take 2 minutes, and I’d be done.
Girl behind the glass (apparently trying to defend her native land): This system we use isn’t Chinese. It’s from another country.
Me: What country is it from?
Girl behind the glass: I don’t know. I think it’s from America.
Me: Well, whatever country it’s from, America, France, Japan, whatever…it makes no sense.
Girl behind the glass (refusing to acknowledge her power to ignore the rule and treat me like a person): You can wait until you get to your new city and then tell them the situation, and then 7 days later you can close your account.
Me (sighing): Will there be a fee involved in closing my account and then opening a new one down there?
Girl behind the glass: Yes.
Me: How much?
Girl behind the glass (looking at my balance): XXX ren min bi
Me: Wait a sec. So, because of your silly rule, which has NOTHING to do with my reason for closing my account, I have to pay an extra fee to close my account in another city and then open up a new one?!
Girl behind the glass (smiling for some reason): Yes…   It was extremely frustrating. Since I had absolutely no intention of ever using my bank card again and didn’t care if I ever found it, could it possibly have hurt for her to just let me close my account and move on with my life?! NO. But “that’s the rule” is an all-too-common response to so many things here. Even something as simple as substituting a Sprite for a Coke at McDonald’s could easily lead to a battle of wills, depending on how much 关系 (guanxi) you have with the person behind the counter. Dealing with that kind of thing is just one of those 没办法 (mei ban fa – nothing you can do about it) situations. Tomorrow, I’m gonna try round 2. I figure I’ll go to another branch and pretend I don’t speak a word of Chinese. When they ask for my ATM card, I’ll just tell them I don’t have my wallet with me. If they still don’t let me close my account, I’ll just withdraw all but one RMB and be done with them. I’ll post the outcome then…   ***UPDATE*** OK, so I went to the bank today (a different branch) and tried to take out all of my money save for 1rmb, but they insisted that I HAD to have my card to withdraw money. I asked if they could just look my information up based on my passport and then withdraw the money. The man insisted that they had to swipe my card to withdraw anything. So I pressed the “Very Dissatisfied” button on their service rating machine and walked out. Pressing the button felt good, but I’m sure nobody even pays attention to what customers think being that the current result is 1 out of 4 stars and the service still sucks. So, here’s a PSA for anybody living in China: If you have some kind of medical emergency and lose your bank card and need your money for a life-saving operation inside seven days of having reported your card as lost, you’re pretty much dead. Try not to lose your wallet and come within inches of death in the same week.   ]]> http://www.due-east.org/2011/09/27/bank-of-stupid/feed/ 4 http://www.due-east.org/2011/06/23/no-smoking-please/ http://www.due-east.org/2011/06/23/no-smoking-please/#comments Thu, 23 Jun 2011 15:17:37 +0000 Due-East http://www.due-east.org/?p=664   I love life here in China. I’ve met a lot of really great people since coming here, and there’s a whole lot to love about this country. Unfortunately, the concept of face just gets in the way far too much for my comfort (and health) sometimes. Let me explain… [...]]]>     I love life here in China. I’ve met a lot of really great people since coming here, and there’s a whole lot to love about this country. Unfortunately, the concept of face just gets in the way far too much for my comfort (and health) sometimes. Let me explain…   One of the things I’ve always appreciated about McDonald’s here in China is that it’s one of the cleaner establishments, which is quite ironic if you live in the West. The air is clean and fresh, just like in the US, and the surfaces are cleaned with some semblance of regularity as well (not so much like the US). There are 禁止吸烟 signs up, and they’ve always been well-respected by the typically upper-class customers. The other day, however, things were different. As I was sitting around eating my Big Mac (as I often do when I’m too lazy to buy groceries and go home to cook something worth eating), a man and his girlfriend/wife came in. In the man’s left hand was a lit cigarette. Normally, I let that kind of thing go, assuming that the person just doesn’t realize it’s a non-smoking establishment. But the way this guy was holding it, sort of palmed in his left hand and always either below the counter or behind his back, it was quite obvious that he was fully aware of the “no smoking” policy and had decided to completely ignore it. The fact that I’ve been to McDonald’s probably 50 times since moving here and have never once smelled cigarette smoke reinforces my belief that people know you can’t smoke there.   To most Americans, a “no smoking” sign means just that: NO SMOKING. As a culture, Americans generally respect that kind of sign because they know that if they don’t, they’ll be told to leave, or at the very least, they’ll be bothered enough by the other patrons that it would be in their best interests to abide by the regulation. And because of our “oh-no-you-di’int!” culture, we’ve gotten used to clean air. So the very presence of a lit cigarette somewhere with a clearly posted “no smoking” sign is enough to make most non-smokers in America at least a little perturbed.   China is not that way, however, and even strict laws are often completely ignored here. And nobody does anything about it when laws are broken. They just ignore it and pretend it’s not happening. Knowing that this is the case, and not particularly feeling like making a scene, I was fully prepared to just finish my hamburger and leave, in spite of the smell. But then the man flicked his ashes on the otherwise clean floor. “That does it!” I thought. “This is not an ashtray!” Then I became the stereotypical loud American, yelling out from behind him in Chinese, “HEY!!! CAN YOU PLEASE NOT SMOKE HERE?!?!” Everybody in the restaurant stiffened up. The employee who had taken my order became red in the face and looked very embarrassed. The manager’s eyebrows furrowed, and she looked very angry. I couldn’t tell if she was angry at him for actually bringing a lit cigarette in or angry at me for loudly calling him out on something instead of just letting it go like everybody else always does. Either way, she asked him to put it out, and he quickly obliged by going outside to throw the cigarette on the ground. One of the Chinese customers in line smiled at me, apparently glad I had called him out. All in all, I considered it a victory.   Later on, when I went to work, I was explaining to my boss what had happened and how I responded. She said, “Oh, Chinese people would never do that!” I told her that I realize that, and that’s exactly why people don’t respect laws or each other here. I explained to her that if everybody who was displeased with behavior like that actually spoke up, people would quickly get the hint that that kind of behavior is simply socially unacceptable, and they’d start changing the way they act. From the blank look on her face, my reasoning seemed to fall on deaf ears. But I’m gonna keep calling people out like that. Sooner or later, people will learn…   ]]> http://www.due-east.org/2011/06/23/no-smoking-please/feed/ 2 http://www.due-east.org/2011/06/06/the-whole-worlds-a-uhh-toilet/ http://www.due-east.org/2011/06/06/the-whole-worlds-a-uhh-toilet/#comments Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:19:05 +0000 Due-East http://www.due-east.org/?p=652   Anybody who’s been to China knows that sights like the one above are extremely common here. It seems that the whole diaper thing that the rest of the world uses never really caught on here in China. So it’s not uncommon to see small children (and even children who seem [...]]]>     Anybody who’s been to China knows that sights like the one above are extremely common here. It seems that the whole diaper thing that the rest of the world uses never really caught on here in China. So it’s not uncommon to see small children (and even children who seem to be as old as 6 or 7) poop or pee in public. Some people take their kids to semi-private spots to do it; others just do it wherever they’re standing. I’ve stepped in or almost stepped in all kinds of bodily wastes here.   And, as has been commented on by many people over the years, our thinking and ways in old age often tend to mirror our thinking and ways early in life. Case in point, today on the way home from work (which was right about the middle of the day), I came upon an old man’s butt. It was, of course, attached to his upright legs as he shuffled along the sidewalk to the bus stop. The disconcerting thing about said butt was that it was completely exposed. “Peculiar,” I thought. “Maybe he doesn’t realize that his pants are slipping down. Poor guy. I’m sure he’ll get it in a sec-GEEEEEEWWWWW!!!!!” That’s when I noticed that about 10 feet behind him lay what looked like a very large, messy pile of human excrement. I hung back about 20 feet to avoid both the smell and the person himself. Eventually the bus came, and he got on, sitting in the front. I, of course, sat in the very back.   In the old man’s defense, he was pretty decrepit (he could barely get on the bus), and there were no bathrooms in sight. It could’ve been that he had no choice. Maybe he figured it would better to let loose on the sidewalk and keep his pants a bit cleaner than they would otherwise be than to wander down a hill that he probably couldn’t get down safely and quite possibly might never be able to get back up just to find a slightly more private place. I didn’t ask about his reasons. I just got on the bus and tried to forget what I just saw…   ]]> http://www.due-east.org/2011/06/06/the-whole-worlds-a-uhh-toilet/feed/ 2 http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/27/ask-an-expat-part-3/ http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/27/ask-an-expat-part-3/#comments Fri, 27 May 2011 15:34:59 +0000 Due-East http://www.due-east.org/?p=529   What follows is the third and final installment of our interview with expat Steve Holt…   Q: What are prices like in China? A: That depends on what kind of money you make. If you’re rich in the US and making US dollars, things are really cheap to you. Your money goes a [...]]]>     What follows is the third and final installment of our interview with expat Steve Holt…   Q: What are prices like in China? A: That depends on what kind of money you make. If you’re rich in the US and making US dollars, things are really cheap to you. Your money goes a long way. If you’re making Chinese yuan, though, your money obviously doesn’t go as far. Things are getting more and more expensive here, especially food.   Q: What’s the shopping experience like in China? A: That’s a pretty broad question. I’ll answer regarding grocery shopping or shopping for necessities. Store employees here (at least where I live) are generally very friendly and helpful and willing to go out of their way to help you find what you want if you’re a foreigner. I’ve had several employees at the store where I do most of my shopping drop what they’re doing to help me find things I’m looking for. That’s always really nice. The shopping carts here are weird. All four wheels pivot, so steering them is really hard. You have to kind of swing your body out from the cart and use your body weight to keep them from careening out of control into the other shoppers. Because of this horrible design, people often drag the carts behind them using one hand, like an oblivious four-year-old dragging his new puppy around on a leash. The poor puppy is on his back, slamming into every obstacle in his path. That’s pretty much how carts are used here a lot of times, and it ends up blocking up the entire aisle.   Another funny thing I’ve run into is that, while sales people are very helpful, they also often just make things up in order to get you to buy things that are more expensive than what you’re looking at or to get you to buy something else when what you want isn’t in stock. For example, I was with a friend one time when he was considering buying a collapsible chair. He asked the store clerk about the chair he wanted to buy, and since what he wanted was out of stock (except for the display model), the clerk proceeded to tell him how much more stable the other chair was, the one that was in stock, even though it was clearly inferior in every single way. I went to buy some shaving cream once, and when I was about to pick up the cheaper one, the sales person there working in that section proceeded to tell me to buy the more expensive brand. We had the following conversation:   Me: “Why is it better? Because it’s more expensive? Because of the brand?”
Clerk: “Because of the brand and because it’s better to use.”
Me: “But how is it better to use?”
Clerk: “It’s better……….”
Me: “Uh, yeah…Well, I’m gonna try this brand out for now, and next time I’ll try that one out, ok?”   She clearly had no idea what made the one product better than the other, but it was more expensive, so she wanted me to buy it.   Q: Having spent all this time rehashing some of the good and bad things about life in China, how do you feel right now? Would you consider your move here to be a good decision or a bad decision over all? A: A great decision. I really love it here!   Q: Great, glad to hear that. Maybe we’ll check back with you again in a couple of years if you’re still here to see how you’re doing. A: Sounds good…   That does it for this installment of Ask an Expat. Stay tuned for future episodes. If you have a question that you’d like to ask an expat, leave a comment with the question, and we’ll do our best to include it in the next interview. ]]> http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/27/ask-an-expat-part-3/feed/ 0 http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/27/dear-china-take-action-or-quit-complaining/ http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/27/dear-china-take-action-or-quit-complaining/#comments Fri, 27 May 2011 15:28:37 +0000 Due-East http://www.due-east.org/?p=630   Dear China,   If one more of your citizens tells me that Chinese people are of poor quality, I’m going to scream. Not because I wholeheartedly disagree – neither do I totally agree, because I’ve met a lot of great people here – but because I’m sick of people complaining about things and not [...]]]>     Dear China,   If one more of your citizens tells me that Chinese people are of poor quality, I’m going to scream. Not because I wholeheartedly disagree – neither do I totally agree, because I’ve met a lot of great people here – but because I’m sick of people complaining about things and not doing their part to change anything. I’m sick of your “没办法” attitude. If people are of “poor quality” it’s because nobody’s trying to do anything about it. Rather than lamenting the poor manners of your countrymen, why not try to set an example? Every single day I have to remind grown men to wash their hands after going to the bathroom. Every single day I have to remind someone that garbage belongs in the garbage can only 10 feet away and not on the street. It’s sad enough that I should have to remind an intelligent adult to do these things at all. The fact that I have to do so is even more shameful when you’re in the presence of your 3-year-old child and actually glance back and forth between the garbage can only a few short steps away and the garbage she just threw at your feet, ultimately doing nothing. What kind of an example are you setting for the next generation? It seems like just about every time I call someone out on this kind of behavior, someone applauds me and tells me that it was good that I did it. Yet, I have yet to see anybody other than myself or another foreigner do the same thing. I get your reasoning, I really do. You don’t want to say something to embarrass someone else. That would be too 不好意思. But you know what’s more 不好意思? Standing there and doing nothing to change the situation. It’s just plain sad. I feel no sympathy for those who complain about the lack of culture and sophistication and then do nothing to help the situation. Either quit your complaining or set an example.   Sincerely,
The World   ]]> http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/27/dear-china-take-action-or-quit-complaining/feed/ 1 http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/11/ask-an-expat-part-2/ http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/11/ask-an-expat-part-2/#comments Wed, 11 May 2011 23:56:35 +0000 Due-East http://www.due-east.org/?p=517   Below is part 2 of our interview with expatriate Steve Holt…   Q: What’s health care like in China? A: Cheap! It’s really, really inexpensive to go see a doctor. Things that would cost an arm and a leg in the United States are really cheap here. I know very few Westerners [...]]]>     Below is part 2 of our interview with expatriate Steve Holt…   Q: What’s health care like in China? A: Cheap! It’s really, really inexpensive to go see a doctor. Things that would cost an arm and a leg in the United States are really cheap here. I know very few Westerners here with health insurance. A friend of mine recently caught pneumonia and had to get multiple lung x-rays. In the United States, that visit to the doctor would probably have run him in the thousands of dollars. Here in China, though, each x-ray cost him about 85RMB, which is like $13 US. That’s really, really cheap. I’ve personally only been sick enough to go to the doctor once since coming here, which I hear is a pretty good record for new transplants, but when I went, the wait for seeing the doctor wasn’t very long, and I was given pretty decent attention by an American-born Chinese doctor who obviously spoke very fluent English. All-in-all, it was a pretty decent experience, sickness not withstanding.   Q: What’s the best experience you’ve had in China in the confines of 10 cubic meters? A: I don’t even know how big that is…   Q: OK, 100 square feet? A: Ah, ok. Ummm…I really don’t know. Pass.   Q: What’s the scariest thing to hear in Chinese? A: Your name excitedly being shrieked out by that one really strange girl who keeps turning up no matter where you are.   Q: What’s the difference between a 5 year old child in America and a 5-year-old child in China? A: Five-year-old children in China aren’t nearly as spoiled as the ones in America. That, and they speak Chinese.   Q: What do Chinese people think of Americans? A: I suspect that the answer to this question will vary widely depending on where you live in China. But based on what I’ve noticed about people where I live, most Chinese people that I’ve come into contact with seem to like Americans. Unfortunately, while some of the younger generation seems to be pretty aware of what’s going on in the world due to the wonders of the Internet, some of the older ones are pretty misinformed and still hold to the stereotypes. Many think that we’re all extremely rich and that we all own a gun and that every single American is a Christian. Actually, even some among the younger generation that have access to the internet still seem to think that the things they see on our TV shows reflect how real life is in America. They seem to think that we don’t work much but are rolling in the money and have penthouse suites and really expensive cars. I’ve had to explain to several people the massive difference between what is portrayed on TV and real life.   Q: What’s a tell-tale sign that it’s going to be an awful day in China? A: It all comes down to your mood. If you’re in a bad mood, it’s going to be a bad China day. Every little thing is going to get to you. If you’re in a good mood, you’ll be able to handle things pretty well, usually. It’s kind of like the old cliche says: Wherever you go, you take the weather with you.   Q: What do you do on “bad China” days? A: Try to be at home as much as possible, because the longer you’re outside in Chinaland, the worse it’s going to get. So get home as soon as possible and eat comfort food and watch English-language movies, if you have any. Do something creative to get the frustration out. It also helps to find a friend to unload on.   That does it for part 2. Part 3 coming soon…   ]]> http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/11/ask-an-expat-part-2/feed/ 0 http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/10/bringing-chinas-creativity-to-light/ http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/10/bringing-chinas-creativity-to-light/#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 13:18:43 +0000 Due-East http://www.due-east.org/?p=580   Recently, a friend of mine who is having a ‘bad China year’ has been complaining a lot about how uncreative Chinese society as a whole is. I can understand where he’s coming from. He’s an extremely creative person in his own right: he’s a graphic artist who has his [...]]]>     Recently, a friend of mine who is having a ‘bad China year’ has been complaining a lot about how uncreative Chinese society as a whole is. I can understand where he’s coming from. He’s an extremely creative person in his own right: he’s a graphic artist who has his own excellent T-shirt company, and he has written some extremely catchy and socially poignant songs in the short time since I’ve known him. Frustration with a lack of creativity just seems to come with the territory of being a creative person.   The thing is, while I don’t consider myself to be the most creative person on earth, I tend to agree with him. Every day I come across striking ingenuity applied to solving simple problems, yet creativity for creativity’s sake seems to be sorely lacking here. TV commercials here are all basically the same because every company is trying to copy what its competitors are doing. Fashion looks all the same and seems to be following some of the worst fashion trends of the United States in the 1980s. Something akin to Cosby sweaters is sold everywhere. Decorating both at newly-opened as well as existing shops and venues seems to be a brief afterthought. And music in China is in the same sad state of affairs. The other day, that friend and I were sitting in a food court at a popular shopping center enjoying lunch, and every song we heard played through the sound system was mass-produced, synthesized pop with all the worst elements of techno. Not much in the way of lyrics, not much diversity, no discernible bridge or other break in sound. It was just the constant thumping of the bass drum on every single beat accompanied by fake instruments with phaser effects applied to them. Back during Chinese New Year, that same shopping center played the same two 恭喜发财 songs ad nauseum for at least 2 weeks straight. These songs were so bad. The only lyrics were literally, “Congratulations, congratulations. Make a lot of money.” Only those songs, only those words, all day, every day. For at least 2 weeks. And they were of the exact same quality and level of creativity as the music that we just heard the other day at the food court.   Why is it this way? My theory is that the Chinese education system focuses primarily on memorizing information to be able to recite it for tests, not on critical thinking, which is the basic foundation of creativity. I’ve never been to a Chinese school, of course, but I’ve spoken to many average people here who agree that this is the problem. Even when it comes to studying subjects that require a large degree of creativity, such as learning foreign languages, the focus seems to be more on rote memorization rather than application. As a result, China is full of people who have studied English for years but can’t string together a sentence to express their own feelings, no matter how hard they try. Another reason seems to have to do with the general group-mindedness of Chinese society. According to Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times, “There is a techie adage that goes like this: In China or Japan the nail that stands up gets hammered, while in Silicon Valley the nail that stands up drives a Ferrari and has stock options.” While this is merely the opinion of a westerner, there are those within China who agree with his sentiments. I’ve spoken with some of them personally.   There are over a billion people that live in this country, and with those kinds of numbers, China must be home to an immense population of creative people. It’s a statistical fact. Unfortunately, the majority of people here are a bit afraid of rocking the boat and being the nail that stands out, lest they be shunned by the group for not maintaining the status quo.   Enter the Internet. Thanks to the wonders of instant international communication, China’s creative types are beginning to see that there are others all over the world – including within China – with the same desire to do something different, something new, to create. The Internet allows slightly outside-the-box thinkers and doers like 张萱妍 and the various types of artists associated with Neocha.com to share their creativity with the world and thus influence other creative types to share what they have. When creative types like this get together, great things are bound to happen.   It’s going to take quite some time for China to realize its true creative potential, but even now, I’m seeing little glimpses of creativity popping up here and there around the city every day where I live: the little clothing shop that doesn’t sell the same hideous clothes as the shop next door; the coffee shop with a mural painted on the wall instead of a drab picture hanging there. It’s not much, but it’s a start. And I live in a relatively small city. In places like Beijing and Shanghai, creativity is far more developed and far more in your face. China as a nation learns very quickly. I believe it’s only a matter of a few short years before there’s an explosion of creativity in China. It will no doubt begin with the average Zhou seeing how lucrative creativity is in certain realms and then moving quickly to capitalize on that trend by imitating what he sees around him, sort of forming a new status quo. But once the more timid creative people here in Chinaland see that their talents are appreciated by the masses, they’ll come out of their shells and really start blossoming. And when that happens, the creative world will be a better place for it.   ]]> http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/10/bringing-chinas-creativity-to-light/feed/ 0 http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/05/ask-an-expatriate-1/ http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/05/ask-an-expatriate-1/#comments Thu, 05 May 2011 14:35:21 +0000 Due-East http://www.due-east.org/?p=424   We recently interviewed expatriate Steve Holt (names may have been changed to protect the innocent) about his thoughts about China. Steve is a relatively new transplant to China, but in his short time here, he’s experienced quite a bit. This is part 1 of that interview. Let’s see what [...]]]>     We recently interviewed expatriate Steve Holt (names may have been changed to protect the innocent) about his thoughts about China. Steve is a relatively new transplant to China, but in his short time here, he’s experienced quite a bit. This is part 1 of that interview. Let’s see what he has to say about his new homeland…   Q: What do you like the most about China? A: The people. Hands down, the people. They’re really great! For one thing, they’re really generous toward their friends. I’ve been treated to more free meals here than I can remember, and this in a country where most people make far less in their lifetime than most Westerners make in just a few years. Also, in some ways, they seem at least outwardly to be very trusting. When they ask you a question, they trust your answer. I don’t detect nearly as much cynicism among the Chinese as I see among people in the West. And that’s refreshing. Also, it’s very easy to make friends with them…and their friends…and their friends’ friends. It can get overwhelming, but, hey, friends are good, right?   Q: As a Westerner, what do you find the hardest to get used to in China? A: Wow, where do I begin? It’s a foreign country, and when you’re living in a foreign country with a foreign culture, there are always going to be lots of things that you find irritating or hard to get used to. I think one of the hardest things for a Westerner to get used to is the lack of orderliness. People in general don’t do the best job of waiting in lines, and when the bus arrives at the stop, there’s a mad rush for everybody to be the first guy on. When the bus comes, decrepit old ladies suddenly become Olympic athletes; seeming gentlemen push and shove their way onto the bus. It’s very much a “me first” mentality that takes over people. And people are just as hurried to be the first one OFF the bus, as if there’s not enough air outside to breathe. It drives me nuts. When there’s a line to wait in, inevitably someone jumps up to the front of the line and tries to force his way in to be the next guy in line. On more than one occasion, I’ve raised my voice and told people to take a hike. That really gets on my nerves!   Q: What’s the worst smell you’ve experienced in China? A: Stinky tofu, hands down. It’s putrid. It smells like a small creature drank curdled milk and then crawled into an animal carcass, where it threw up from the smell and then died and then exploded, only to have an even smaller animal drink curdled milk and crawl into it to die. And then the whole thing sat baking in the sun for a few days. I hate that stuff.   Q: What advice would you give to someone coming to visit, someone coming to live? A: People visiting China need to know a few things: First, this is not the West. There won’t be Western conveniences everywhere you go. Some bathrooms have sit-down toilets, many don’t. Some bathrooms have toilet paper available, many don’t. Some bathrooms have working sinks and soap; many don’t. Bring your own TP and hand sanitizer. Also, I’d say don’t pack too much, especially if you’re going to be traveling around. The more you bring, the more trouble it is. People in China are a lot less vain than they are in the West. People here have a lot less disposable income, so it’s common to see people wear the same thing a few days a week. Take advantage of that when you visit and pack light. You can always wash clothes while you’re here, but keep in mind that there are very, very few clothes dryers. So you’ll be hanging your clothes up to dry, which could be inconvenient if you pack too lightly. And finally, don’t come in with the attitude that everybody in the world speaks at least some English. It’s just not true. There are TONS of people here who don’t speak English. So if you don’t speak Chinese, I’d suggest bringing a phrase book.   As for coming here to live, again there are several things to keep in mind, but in the interests of brevity, I’ll keep it limited to two. First, have a decent bank account. Expect to spend at least $2000 US your first month, depending on where you live. After that, it’ll calm down somewhat, but there’s always going to be something to spend money on, so make sure you have some money tucked away. Second, don’t come with the attitude that you’re going to forsake your own culture and just blend in. You won’t. You’ll find out very quickly upon arriving that, while you’ll love China, you’ll also have those “bad China days” where you just wish you were back in your own country. So make sure you bring things that you find comforting. Your guitar, your favorite DVDs (or ripped copies of the ones you own), your music collection. Those will be invaluable on days when you just don’t wanna be in Chinaland anymore.   Q: Most important number to know in China? A: 1.3 billion. There are tons of people here, all trying to make ends meet, all trying to get theirs. If you keep that in mind, you’ll be able to keep a lot of the irritating behavior that you see and experience here in context. That will make you last a lot longer. It’s all about understanding the people and where they’re coming from and not just judging them at face value.   That’s it for part 1. Part 2 coming soon… ]]> http://www.due-east.org/2011/05/05/ask-an-expatriate-1/feed/ 3 http://www.due-east.org/2011/04/22/dear-china-wash-your-hands/ http://www.due-east.org/2011/04/22/dear-china-wash-your-hands/#comments Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:52:51 +0000 Due-East http://www.due-east.org/?p=429   Today, I’m starting a new series of posts that I’ll include on the blog whenever I feel like it, probably on my bad China days. The new series is called “Dear China”. In this series of posts, I’ll pick whatever it is that happens to bother me the most about [...]]]>     Today, I’m starting a new series of posts that I’ll include on the blog whenever I feel like it, probably on my bad China days. The new series is called “Dear China”. In this series of posts, I’ll pick whatever it is that happens to bother me the most about China on that particular day and write an open letter to the entire country about it. Today happens to be a rather bad China day, so today is the first episode.   Dear China,   Wash. Your. Hands. WASH YOUR FILTHY HANDS! It’s not hard. You turn the water on as hot as your skin can stand it, you wet your hands, you apply soap, you rub your hands together vigorously for at least 30 seconds, you rinse your hands, and then when you’re done, you dry them off. It’s that simple. Being that your country has “5000 years of continuous culture”, I really shouldn’t have to be telling you this. But based on my observations of the post bathroom usage rituals of the people around me, at least 50% of your population seems to be in the dark about this. I’m honestly surprised there haven’t been more outbreaks of deadly diseases here than there have been.   You should wash your hands several times a day, including – but not limited to – on the following occasions:
After using the bathroom
After picking your nose
After touching animals
After touching your mouth or your hair
After scratching yourself
After touching any publicly-used surface   I cannot over stress this point: It’s especially important to wash your hands when you work at a restaurant. If you touch any food, be it your own food or the food of anybody else, wash your hands regularly and vigorously. Nobody wants to eat a burger seasoned by your bodily fluids. It’s filthy. And I really shouldn’t have to call your 20-something-year-old restaurant employees back to the bathroom to wash their hands after obviously having 上’ed 大号 (doing #2).   And to the hospitals, restaurants, and other establishments frequented by the public: It’s your responsibility to make soap available to the patrons that frequent your establishment. People don’t generally carry around bars of soap, so if people are going to have clean hands, you’ll need to do your part. Also, you may wanna make sure the hand dryers in the bathrooms have at least as much blow power as a 95-year-old chain smoker suffering from emphazema, preferably more, because if people have to leave the bathroom with soaking hands, they’re a lot less likely to actually wash. That would be too mafan (麻烦). At the very least, supply very large containers of waterless hand sanitizer. Seriously, China…   Sincerely,
The World   ]]> http://www.due-east.org/2011/04/22/dear-china-wash-your-hands/feed/ 0 http://www.due-east.org/2011/04/14/in-china-its-perfectly-acceptable-to-nap-where-your-customers-should-be-sitting/ http://www.due-east.org/2011/04/14/in-china-its-perfectly-acceptable-to-nap-where-your-customers-should-be-sitting/#comments Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:13:25 +0000 Due-East http://www.due-east.org/?p=405   So my roommate and I went for lunch the other day at a Japanese rice bowl place. We walked in, and only 1 of the 3 employees was awake. The other 2 were sleeping with their heads on the table, completely unaware that customers had even entered the shop. [...]]]>     So my roommate and I went for lunch the other day at a Japanese rice bowl place. We walked in, and only 1 of the 3 employees was awake. The other 2 were sleeping with their heads on the table, completely unaware that customers had even entered the shop. We sat down and ordered and waited for our food to come. Eventually one of the employees woke up and went into the kitchen, presumably to cook our food, but the other guy didn’t stir at all. A few minutes later, a lady came in and, as all other tables were occupied, she sat down at the table with the sleeping employee. Again, no reaction. Then, a few minutes later, another lady came in and sat at one of the now-vacant tables. The only 2 awake employees were both in the kitchen, so the lady had no way of ordering. She sat and waited…and waited…and waited. Nobody came to take her order. Taking matters into her own hands, she stood up, walked over to the sleeping employee, and bent over. She her face was only inches from his. Ever so gently, she whispered, “Can I order some food?” No response, so she walked over to the curtain separating the kitchen from the dining area and called for a waiter. My roommate and I thought it was pretty hilarious, and we were laughing pretty hard. The lady, however, gave us a bewildered look. She didn’t get the humor. To her, this was apparently just another day in her homeland…   ]]> http://www.due-east.org/2011/04/14/in-china-its-perfectly-acceptable-to-nap-where-your-customers-should-be-sitting/feed/ 3