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Q: Anyone seen the transformation of newblood expats?
Some get here full of enthusiasm but soon become bitter and disenfranchised. There's an older Australian guy at my school. 3 months ago he was going on about how China is the greatest country in the world and now I have to listen to him rant about how barbaric Chinese people are. Have you seen this happen? Why do these people change their opinion about China?
Hehe, yup, I see this too. When I was in Harbin, I saw it happen a few times. Guys would show up full of piss and vinegar and wham!...Once the Harbin winter hit's ya like a punch in the face........everything changes in what seems like overnight.
Alot of the time I find they are inexpirenced travelers and only see the tourist side of a place before making the move to live there.
It happens to people in their own country to.
they go to a place on holiday and fall in love with the place so decide to move there.
then when the everyday life starts they discover that it was not what was in the broushure.
rose coloured glasses if you like.
WIth EVERY person. And, what's funny, is that when you tell them to wait six months they go on some rant about how you're condescending to them. Then, sure enough, six months later they're as drunk, bitter and as full of hatred as the rest of us.
DaBen:
I take offense to that.... I'd like to think some are more drunk than others.
We are not all drunk, bitter and full of hatred as "the rest of us". I, for one, do not drink; I am not bitter and surely I am not full of hatred. I try to keep in mind what Abraham Lincoln wrote : "with malice towards none and with charity towards all".
What the OP is simply describing are the different stages of culture shock. In some newbies, it is simply transitory and they pass through all of the known stages in the known order. In others, it is fatal and it aborts their stay in China and their normal daily relationships.
Frankly, as another poster wrote somewhere here, if the place ain't good for you, well the please take the exit. The Chinese have a saying about "the road beneath your feet".
kchur:
I think that's the Irish. But you're right. There's no such things as shades of gray. You can only passionately love every aspect of every moment of your time in China, or hate China from the deepest blackness of your heart. No middle ground.
I have been through every phase myself, from the honeymoon stage where moving to China was the smartest thing I ever did, to the extreme of hating it and everyone and back again.
Now, it is just 'meh' most of the time. The highlight of my day is getting my 3 year old to finish his dinner before the sun rises.
My honeymoon phase was went I went to China on vacation for a week. When I came back, I had moved past that to the "I know some of this is going to suck, but I didn't come here for sunshine and rainbows" phase. I like some things, I hate some things, overall it's more interesting than staying at home. However, I won't stay in China for more than 2-3 years. I'll move on eventually to the next great adventure, Japan or Korea.
As for why their opinions change, that's because they didn't know the real China. When you are first introduced to something, you'll either hate it or you'll love it. It isn't until you learn all aspects of it that you can have a true opinion. That true opinion is a mix of good and bad things. To only see the good or only see the bad means they're not seeing the whole picture.
