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Q: First thing that struck you as really different in China?
What was the first thing that really stuck you in China? My first trip, what struck me was everyone is Chinese.. yeah I know, da. But seeing it was weird. I don't see many Chinese people or many people at all normaly. I've lived outside a small town for along time. It gets so even if I don't know someones name , I can recognise them from behind.
This trip it's the amount of people. I take my dog for walks on my road at home. It's a quiet road along the water. I might see a neighbor. Even if I go to a city, the amount of people I see does not hit me. But in China the amount of people just looks like a never ending river to me. It's so surreal. And the women. They hit me both times. I have never seen so many great looking women. They dress so nice, especially given what I think they make and the cost of clothing. Oddly I can't tell what men wear. I never see them,, special glasses I had made.
I always thought China was going to ve like the Soviet Union. I expected that police would be marching down the street every hours and there would be police helicopter flying everywhere making certain people are disrupting the social harmony.
Stiggs:
I sort of expected something similar, stern cops everywhere probably beating people up or something. Turns out they just stand there watching people ignore the traffic lights.
The men wear dark muted colours so as to not look different or stand out in a crowd. No need to draw attention to oneself in case he needs to slink back into the shadows after ripping you off.
The light switches are upsidedown: up is down, down is up. What kind of backwards country is this????
The 24hour feel of the place.
You can get a snack at anytime you like. Feel relatively safe. The never ending stream of cars and people.
It's not the first thing, but one of a few things that hit me hardest was the food. Since I basically only eat the Chinese food, it took me a long time to get used to it. Sometimes I just get tired of it, but I get over that in a day or two.
The squat toilets....I still can't accept them even after more than a year here.
Cleanliness and the fact they use cold water and no soap to actually clean or when they use the same mop to clean the floor that was justed used to clean the bathroom
GuilinRaf:
At school we have one of those trough urinals, and the Ayi who cleans the floor uses the SAME MOP she uses to clean the urinal as she uses to clean the floor...
My impressions were similar to you, Ted. When I first started teaching, all of my girl students (98% of my students are girls) looked absolutely alike! I though, "I'm never going to get used to this. Everyone looks Chinese!" But now, after two years, I know that there is so much variety (just like everywhere else) among the people. Facial features, build, hair color, skin color, etc. I have little problem now telling who is who.
Also, the crowds. This hit me before the fact that everyone used to look the same. Everywhere I went, there were people! And traffic! It still gets me a little antsy sometimes, especially when I travel. I simply refuse to be man-handled in a crowd, and am probably quite rude by Chinese standards, but then again, I always have my wife with me, and will not let her be pushed and shoved, so I take pre-emptive action, creating a "bubble" around us.
Other than that, just the general lack of actual knowledge about the world around them, but I discovered that after I had been here awhile.
I always thought China was going to ve like the Soviet Union. I expected that police would be marching down the street every hours and there would be police helicopter flying everywhere making certain people are disrupting the social harmony.
Stiggs:
I sort of expected something similar, stern cops everywhere probably beating people up or something. Turns out they just stand there watching people ignore the traffic lights.
