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Q: What do Foreginers think of your country?
we all take about China and ask Q about China
But what do Chinese who live or have lived abroad think of our countrys?
Well you would be a foreigner to my country since your not American and I have heard you saying bad things. As far as chinese people I've heard nothing but high praises from them.
Mr_spoon:
How do you sleep at night with the sound of wind blowing between your ears?
Most Chinese that I know are very ambivalent about the country from which I come. Some view as a place of endless freedom and great potential; others view it as a dangerous, war-mongering world power, bankrupt and cranky. On a personal level, nearly all of them were astounded by the election of a leader who was not Caucasian. A good percentage of them wish to travel there just to have a look, and if statistics are correct, then indeed they are doing just this. Students view it as a haven for graduate studies and then access into the job market.
Many of my Chinese friends have a totally wrong conception of what life is, or even what the US of A really is.
In a way, they all think that streets are paved with gold bricks, $ 100 US dollar bills grow on trees by sidewalks, and in general it is the closest thing to Havens that they can think off. All they hear or repeat is salaries of $ 25 dollars an hour, in many cases as high as $ 100 dollars an hour. And this is true, the problem comes that they take income from there and equate it to their level of expenses here, and thus "think" that by landing there they will be millionaires overnight.
Unfortunately, it is not the case. First, high paying jobs are only available for those who are REALLY fluent in English, if you just mumble some words you will get a job at minimum wage. Then no one knows that the government there will keep at least 1/3 of your pay check. Then, cost of living there is a lot higher than here on just about everything. Add that culture and customs, even eating habits are different. And it could get even worse if the Chinese person does not fully embrace the "way of life" there, and tries hard to be and eat like he or she was still in China.
Yes, it is a dream for many students, for many Ladies here, even for men too as a source of a better quality of life. But it can also become, rather fast for their taste, a very nasty nightmare too. This is why so many return to China within 3 to 5 years after arriving there.
I was more talking about the good and the bads aspecs that we talk about here
not our personal opinions.
My wife loves how the goverment looks after the children so well but hates the cost and lack of public transport
Shining_brow:
"hates the cost and lack of public transport" That's cos of where you chose to go!!! Sheesh dude, another 20K's north or south east, and it'd be great! (well, maybe not the cost....:p)
philbravery:
you know what its like in Brisbane. If you dont live in the inner suburbs you have to drive miles to get to a train station.
I haven't met too many Chinese who have actually lived in the U.S., but a friend of my wife's who lives there (Texas, for 7 years) and came back here for a visit thought I was absolutely crazy to want to live in China.
Another friend's daughter who just returned after six months in an American college told me how hard it was compared to Chinese schools she had attended. She was shocked to fail a final exam in history because she plagerized off the internet, and her professor gave her a "zero." Also, her insturctors treated her like an adult and expected her to find out information for herself and not spoon feed her. In short, as she stated, they expected her to think for herself.
I have found from talking to others who have visited that they were amazed at how wrong their perceptions turned out to be. Going, they thought everyone had a gun, was rich, and played all day. They found out that most Americans work very hard, not everyone has, or even likes guns, and most people just want a good life for themselves and their family. They were surprised by the openess of political discussions (both pro and con) that take place on the news and in daily conversations.
Another aspect they commented on was the beauty of the countryside and most towns, saying it was like living in a park setting. Oh, and how colorful things were, which is the result of clean air (and not having to view the distance through a white haze). They mentioned that the people were friendly, and fat!
LAR:
GR..thank you for the posting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! * It IS SO REFRESHING to hear POSITIVE COMMENTS about my country and its people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! * There's nothing like PERSONAL EXPERIENCE eh? :)
Beautiful, kangaroos, big desert in the middle, Sydney... and we're done!
So, I suppose the real answser is much like Happy's - complete ignorance. (that's the local's ignorance, not Happy's )
Judging from the astounding numbers of Chinese that try to get into Canada every year, I would say they have a pretty positive view of my country.
The ironic part is that the vast majority of Chinese nationals that get accepted into Canada each year are rich mainlanders (investing money in a Canadian business) who want their family to have a better quality of life, education etc...as well as get all their money out of China while they can. The Chinese are very proud of China, but most of the ones with the resources will leave as soon as they can.
I think Chinese people have a love/hate thing going on with America, but they all seem to love Canada and Australia.
philbravery:
I agree
also you dont here to much about the UK or Europe ?
1) Da Shan's Country
2) Bethun's Country (or whatever that Doctor from the thirties was named)
3) Free welfare for everyone.
derek:
Yeah, I have to tell everyone who asks that the doctor was a great man or they will be offended. I used to say I never heard of him but that got me blank stares.
Most of the small number of Chinese that i know who live in Sydney like Australia very much. I recently also met a Chinese friend who was here on a group tour and through her also met many of the tour group. They all had positive things to say and were very impressed with the cleanliness and lack of crowds and traffic. Other comments were how well mannered most drivers were and how many single dwellings there were compared to China.
On the negative side they thought food was pretty ordinary (where they were taken) and expensive but our friend was impressed with a pizza and kabab I brought for her (go figure) as well as some very nice mangoes and cherries.
I have Shanghainese family friends who lived in South Africa for over 17 years. On the whole they really love SA and proudly refer to themselves as "Chinese-South African". At a dinner recently the dad was bragging about what a beautiful country SA is, how big their house was in Johannesburg (big house with a swimming pool and a double garage), how warm the people are etc. They moved back to Shanghai 3 years ago after being involved in an attempted hijacking :(. They love SA, had a very good quality of life there, most of the cousins were educated there and have returned to good jobs in Shanghai because of the international exposure. They were obviously traumatised by the incident and decided to move back to Shanghai (for which i really don't blame them), but they do miss SA and have a good view of the country overall.
In general, amongst the Chinese people i've met, SA is most famous for our diamonds, gold and Nelson Mandela. (Now that i think about it, i haven't had one Chinese person ask me if i have a pet lion/elephant etc ).
A former student of mine went on her honeymoon to Sydney and Melbourne. She said: 'it's very beautiful and the beaches are nice, but I think the people are a little lazy, because everybody is at the beach all the time".
I did try to persuade her that we don't ALL spend ALL day relaxing, sometimes we have to work, and that she only met people at beaches because she spent all her time there herself, but I don't think that I convinced her.
most of chinese people that i talk to don't even know where's my country lol
Sometimes they think I am Australian and they say bad things.
Sometimes they think I am from New Zealand and they like me very much.
Sometimes they mistake me for a Russian and they say the worst things possible.
If they think I am Canadian, then they are really kind and say great things.
If they think I am English, they usually make comments about tea-with-milk-and-sugar and how terrible English food is.
If they think I am American, first they praise the American people and then they say the worst things imaginable about its government.
That's here on mainland.
In Taipei, it was mostly just blatant indifference.
Samm11:
Do you actually tell them where you're from or you just let them guess and watch their reaction? :-)
belle_watson:
Some mail was recently misdirected for you to the Planet of Apes, c/o Mr. P. Barbary.
I told the postman that the spelling was incorrect but that the planet was accurate.
mike695ca:
What bad things would people say about australians? Im canadian by the way, just curious, as i have never heard a negative stereotype about aussies.
France... People I met says "Ho, France is romantic !". If my wife is around, she will roll her eyes and say "Not !" and go on about where the hell this reputation of romanticism comes from. I guess I don't fit to the romantic image ^^
From Chinese students I knew when I was in France... Streets are really small, it's not all grayish (reference to the cities haze in China), life is expensive and lots of taxes, nice work/life balance, administration is an headache, cute countryside and cities, everything is closed Sunday, typical self-righteous French attitude, people can be both really harsh and polite, peaceful & quiet life, local food is heavy on the stomach, people really take their time to have their meal. All of this, I think, very accurate ^^
(England)
They think it's foggy all the time and all the men are 'gentlemen'.
Yeh.........right.
my home country, Scandinavia doesn't actually exist. I know that most tourists finds it expensive, cold and find people weird and unfriendly.
mArtiAn:
Course Scandinavia exists, it's where Dracula come from. Or am I thinking of that one out of Bugs Bunny, y'know, what'sisname, the Tasmanian Devil, where does he come from?
Scandinavian:
The Tasmanian Devil would be from Tasmania (in Australia) It is an actual animal. Didn't Sir Attenborough educate you as a child?
Holland? "The gays", prostitution everywhere, dangerous drug addicts, and cheap BABY MILK <3. I met a few Chinese, and their preconceptions seemed to colour their opinions, behaviour and perceptions of Dutch reality. The reality is that most of those stereotypes revolve around Amsterdam where I lived, and I found the city to be a very nice place indeed. I never partook in any of the city's "special attractions", since they're mostly for rowdy Brits and other tourists. On a personal note, my mom made such a bad impression when she visited China (on our expense) that my wife has definitively written off Holland as a place we could live in the future. I'll need to get some vocational certification in Britain or Australia in the future, so I can work there. Thankfully I have 2 passports, and my British one should help with immigration to UK.
italy:
football, fashion, prada, versace, gucci, Mussolini...
nicholasba:
yep. And I'm talking about taxi drivers..."ah, yidali!!! Musuoliniii..."
belle_watson:
Facciamo lo scioppero.
Siamo tutti comunisti.
I treni sono sempre in retardo.
Canada..... Americs bitch, part of america ect. Its covered in ice all year round but we are all so very rich that we live in ice mansions, we are so polite. Chinese second choice as they couldnt get into the states or our universities will accept anyone with money and well, daddy couldnt pay for Yale. The government has a magic way of creating money so that everything in Canada is free, so i will make money in China, move to Canada and retire and the government will give me money every month because im old and useless and pay for all my healthcare......so overall the chinese are incredibly well versed in my country.
I'm an Australian ESL teacher here & like to keep in contact with some students who have ventured overseas, & curious of their experience. These are not in any particular order, but the most common comments were;
* how polite & considerate of each other we were.
*how people actually follow the road rules (one student was so shocked that cars actually stopped for her, only her, at a pedestrian crossing!! she'd never seen that before in China)
*how much cleaner the air & beaches are
*the freedom of being able to read/watch/listen to what you want to
And there's other reasons e.g. education , that for many is good enough not to return home. Good luck to them!