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Q: Lazy, ill prepared or useless?
We have all had to change our standards in China in various ways. But some more than others.
You can see some people here make a real effort to live like they would back home. And others make an effort to live as a local would. These are decisions. What I find confusing are the ones that live a certain way because they cant change it. All I hear is that China is so difficult. It doesnt make any sense to me.
Transportation.
Ive said it many times, Buses are for crack heads. In China or back home. Especially in China as you are subjected to humiliation and horrific smells as well. I am also anti scooters. It screams of just quitting on life. So why do it?
Why not live near a subway?
Why choose a job thats so far out of the way?
Why not just save for a cheap second hand car?
Once a week theres a post here on getting a chinese drivers license. And pretty much everyone sais the same thing. Its really difficult, China sucks. Holy hell people, its not any more difficult than anywhere else. Its cheap as hell, its in English and you dont need a drivers test. If you cant manage simple things like getting a drivers licence, you are sadly unequipped to handle pretty much anything else life throws at you. Just curl up into a ball and die right now.
If you were back home would you move to some farmer town in Iowa? Especially if you had no money for a car, and you you knew that Iowa didnt have proper transportation? No you would not. These are EASY adult decisions that even the dumbest people in other countries would make.
" jeez my work is 35KM away and there is no train station for ten, fuck taking the bus, ill find another apartment"
Simple choices to make. Yet here , its super common.
Apartments
Back home would you choose to live in an apartment with 3 or 4 strangers? Its wierd and creepy. Can you think of someone you know back home who doesnt know how to fix a leaky faucet? Yet in China everyone always bitching about landlords. This isnt new york city, rent is not expensive. IF you cant afford to live in China your experiment here has failed. Time to make a new plan.
Even food.
Who the hell wants to eat jiaozi and noodles everyday. I call extreme bullshit on anyone that sais they love the cheap food. Sure I like a good chinese meal as much as the next guy. ONCE IN A WHILE. But how hard is it to make a steak and a caesar salad at home?Your telling me your 28 and you cant cook a meal? Once a week i make a 2 hour round trip and I go get a pizza or something for that night, then i stock up on real meats and vegatables that I actually want to eat and snacks, things that if i open my fridge I dont feel pissed off. But Ive been to dozens and dozens of laowai houses and hell 90% of them dont even need a fridge.
Put up your hand if you dont have AC in your bedroom!
Or if you dont have a water dispenser, you just buy bottles.
how about if you dont have spare sheets, so you just wash yours less regularly, and then spend one night sleeping on damp sheets or your matress.
Very easy, everyday things that people have just quit and gave up on.
Why?????
Laziness? your mom isnt watching and chinese girls dont care?
You came to early in life and had no clue how to wipe your ass?
I really cant figure it out.
Ok Mike.
I get the gist of much of what you are saying, although you do come across as rather condescending in the way you say it. But that's just the way some people are 
.
But.... what the hell with this bus and crack head thing? That's just being a snob.
See here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/japan-airline-boss-sets-exec-example/
Loads of people get the bus. I take the company bus to work and back every day.
I have money to buy a car if I wanted one, but I choose not to. You say that's ok.
I get the bus, you suggest I am a crackhead !! Are you really saying I should add to traffic congestion, pollution, parking issues and spend loads of money on something I don't need? For why?
I feel secure enough within my self not to feel like a crack head if I use the bus.
Hell, I know loads of Chinese people who have very nice cars thank you very much, but they still take the bus to work. It's easy, you can have a chat, read the news (or EChinaCities) or even play games on their IPhones 
.
mike695ca:
Thanks for at least trying man. To be honest i really never thought people would get so mad about that part. Where i come from, transportation is cars . thats it. There is a stigma with buses. I mean i didnt create the term " loser cruiser" but its out there. I also believe i made a point to say i wasnt sure of the atitude towards it in europe. But i apologize for offending you l. Truly. I actually like you as much as i can like a person ive never met. So that wasnt my intention.
Poor Mike, getting flamed.. interesting though how the votes are split for the post.
I don't mind the post, or if it is condescending. In fact, that is sometimes necessary to strike the exact cords/strings that need to be struck with some people.
If you are too logical or neutral, it wouldn't be the same. Ambition and diligence has emotion embodied into it and I think you get a little passionate with these posts and others think your sole purpose is to just come along and smack some people around with your high stacks of society lol.
I know what you mean exactly though because the kind of foreigner you were describing is all over the place.
There is one guy, has been here for 10 years. Doesn't have anything saved and always complains about having no money. He can't speak any Chinese and he only now started riding an Ebike around because his WIFE (which he married JUST for a visa) kind of pushed him in to it. He has a hard time with interviews and getting jobs because he dresses like a red neck and talks like a sailor...
Yet all the while, he just doesn't understand what China doesn't lay down and whore itself out for him. He is a smart guy actually, but totally wasting his potential on doing nothing.
Guys like him need to be rattled and woken up sometimes. Sure they might get pissed off initially but who likes being told they are a loser and knows it is the truth? Nobody is going to be like "you are right, I am a loser... save me!" Most get pissed off and upset and realize they don't like that feeling and do something about it so that the next time somebody does call them a loser or whatever, they just laugh without giving it a second thought.
If somebody called me a loser or something, I would just laugh. I don't quantify a loser by just wealth but by by merit of many qualities. Their knowledge, their health/appearance, their relationships, their ambition, their creativity, problem solving abilities etc... in any sort of combination.
If someone calls you a loser and you believe it... then you haven't done enough with your life. Or at least, you haven't done many of the things you may have wanted...
xinyuren:
Yeah, maybe he was having a BFD (Bad Foreigner Day)? Sure, he could have made his point without being an ass about it, but then he wouldn't be mike, would he? Actually his posts don't offend me because at least he knows he's an ass. He's already admitted to it in a previous post. Although I wouldn't ever want to meet him in person, watching him on the internet as he dick wrestles with someone else over some stupid s#$& is entertaining as hell (in a trailer-parkish sort of way). He's harmless and I can choose not to read if I want, like Vicky.
mike695ca:
@xin. Finally someone understands me! But dont underestimate me. Im a Riot in person. Youd be missing out. Far more entertaining. My facial expressions! Priceless...
Potential potential potential.....
Potential to do what exactly?
If you buy a car in China you are contributing to the rape of natural resources for your own selfish comfort. China is not exactly famed for it's green or human rights record when it comes to procuring energy.
Fill your boots guys.
While we're bitchin' about "useless" foreigners, can I get my list in here?
1. Foreigners who always have some snarky insult to China whenever there is something negative in the news. Always having a creative way to insult Chinese culture on the obvious notes (spitting and crapping in the streets, staring at foreigners, lack of creativity, etc..). This is tiring to discuss over and over again.
2. Foreigners who think China is Porn Disneyland (See hunny797 latest escapades). These jerks make the Chinese think all foreigners are knobs.
3. Foreigners who look down on Chinese, just for being Chinese. I could write a whole article about this (but I won't 
)
expatlife26:
+1 from me.
Yeah whenever I read somebody saying some shit like ALL Chinese are useless I always call that out.
Maybe the support staff in/around the language industry isn't the best and brightest but there are def people here who would stand out as achievers at any firm in the world.
I'm not a china apologist at all, but i'm not going to say anything I don't think is true from my experience.
and yeah it's really fucking tacky to treat this place like a porn disneyland...well said
mike695ca:
agree completely. I think its funny how people dont see like they look like idiots when in one article they complain that every article is anti- foreigner and its the reason why all chinese hate us. yet in the very next article thats china related they will post the exact same biased shit in reverse,
How do you expect chinese to be fair and un-biased when you cant do it yourself?? Makes no sense.
I kind of agree with people on the 3rd one. 80% of the chinese I see on the street seem to be dumb as nails. Its hard not to generalize when the percentages are so high. Funny how they seem great when you are dealing with them on a day to day basis.
xinyuren:
On point number 3: Yes, Most Chinese I talk to appear to be simple, dense and not very bright, but (notice how I emphasize that but?) that is not necessarily a reason to look down on them if you understand Chinese culture and history. This is why I always like to preach an empathetic approach to dealing with the Chinese. After all, you don't see a lot of people looking down on autistic children or the handicapped. It's all a matter of understanding the other's perspective.
expatlife26:
Xinyu, I'll phrase it like this. I DO look down on people who are dumb and ignorant. 100% I do, but what I don't like about them is their dumbness and ignorance not their Chineseness cause that's not fair at all.
I'll give anybody a chance to prove their are interesting people and there are definitely some here. Not a lot %-wise but
I thought you meant like not giving people a chance out of a racism.
a couple times I've gotten to spend some time in the office down in Hong Kong. It's not like the HK office is staffed with these super geniuses and the Shanghai office everybody is shitting on the floor. Smart people here are just as talented and capable as in HK (or tokyo, NYC etc), what makes HK better is you just don't have the braindead bumpkins floating around. Or...I guess as mike pointed out they're only on that one MTR line!
So I get what you're saying that it's not these panicky peasants fault...but they still make things worse. HK proves theres nothing inherent obnoxious about the people, they just need to be held to a higher standard here and that means not blaming culture for their bullshit habits.
xinyuren:
@expat:
"...for being Chinese."
Let me explain that part of my statement. Being a mainlander Chinese comes with a lot of cultural baggage. HK and Taiwanese took a very different historical road, thus are not included in that blanket statement. Ignorance and uncivilized habits often come with the package. There is a reason for the notable difference in behavior between HK and SH people. So when I wrote "...for being Chinese.", I didn't intend to portray racist overtones. I am simply acknowledging that cultural divide. In a very real sense, "being Chinese" in the mainland means being ignorant, bad manners and habits, etc... I don't mean this as a slight to China, its just a studied observation. Their culture breeds this behaviour. Do you dispute this? Have you really taken the time to honestly explore the reasons why the mainlanders behave as they do? And have actually come to the conclusion that their behavior is the result of a conscious choice between alternative lifestyes? I find that very hard to believe in light of China's recent history.
That being said, ignorance is no reason for me to look down on anyone (unless someone knowingly practices ignorance for some malicious purpose). We are all human. Every human has a certain potential. What makes me think I'm better than the next person? I only look down on people who enjoy causing harm to others. This is my definition of a useless person.
To look down on ignorant people just because they are ignorant or have bad habits is elitism. You and mike are good buddies, right? So I would expect this elitist attitude from you. Friends often share the same views. Now, it seems I'm writing that article after all so I'll digress.
The gap that is being formed by anti China rants (one one side) and anti foreigner rants (the other side) seems to be becoming more and more pronounced. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the short year that I've been a member here... It seemed that China venting posts were the norm. Perhaps we got tired of seeing those here, because since then, complaints concerning foreigners seem to have made a bigger appearance and now carry a similar ferocity with them.
So basically that means when any post being made complains about one of the two, you can expect a flame war. Of course some people seem to jump camps and decide who to complain about when. So what's my point? Seems I don't really have one.
mike695ca:
Your right of course. Even if you have no point. Except it seems to go in cycles here. For a while its anti foreigner. Then youll get a few months where everyone accuses everyone else of being a wumao. The anti china sentiment will always remain. Then after a few months some newbies will come and be china apologists for a while untill they inevitably start hating it here too. Just the way it is. Keeps things fresh.
" If you cant manage simple things like getting a drivers licence, you are sadly unequipped to handle pretty much anything else life throws at you. Just curl up into a ball and die right now."
Wow! Mike, I read your post until the quoted words. This time, I refuse to continue reading it. Maybe next time you will be feet on Earth. Sorry man! BTW. the last down vote is mine.
mike695ca:
Why does everyone get mad by that? Its a phrase, it means quit. Do i really need to tell people that i dont actually want them to die? Tooo sensitive to be online.
JacobJohn:
I don't know, it's just me. I guess it's because I believe that these sort of clichés shape up and define our inner thinking and feeling. But I do get your point that is somehow encourage people to do their best to not end up like losers. Your endeavor would be much more appreciated if you put it in better words. Anyway, everyone makes his own life just as much as he can or want or both of them.
Jose Ortega y Gasset, a Spaniard outstanding Essayist and Philosopher used to say: "Yo soy yo y mis circumstancias!" So much truth in it. I mean, indeed we are defined and favored to become ourselves by our circumstances. You are gifted with an acute sense of life and survivals many don't have it. I include myself in this category. That's why, I could learn so many things form people like you if the words are nice and respectful. There are people who love this sort of being talked to. This it doesn't work with me. However, no matter how right you may be, I wouldn't tell you, but I would think of it and learn from it. Thanks anyway for your courage and for standing up for your opinion.
This thread inspired me to go out and buy an M7.
Last car I had was an old M3.
Anyone want a race? Shenzhen to Shanghai.
My car is brand new, So it has no plates yet.
