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Q: By gawd what the hell is up with this mainland woman?
So, I used to teach in Hebei province (cesspool) in a small farming town called Linzhang (paragon of nongdom), it was miserable as all so I'd often go in to Handan (also a cesspool but with fewer actual nongs) to eat Pizza Hut and get a coffee.
I met a girl who lived/studied in Handan who approached me before a train trip back from the shitty capital city the name of which I forget, she approached me with the "are you lost" line while I was wandering around the train station waiting for goddamn nongcart to finally arrive.
We chatted on the train ride back, exchanged wechats, agreed we should hang out some time. She was nice enough. I wouldn't call her bangable cute, but I was just glad to meet an English speaker. Looking back, it was probably a classic case of a repressed young lady wanting to show off her English to a white guy and, for but a moment, escape her already predetermined and miserable existence. Whatever.
So anyway, we hung out a couple of times but I already had one foot out the door from Heibei and she turned out to be kind of boring and didn't want to go bowling so fuck that noise.
Flash forward; I'm in Hong Kong now. Quite an improvement working over here and just blending in with all the other whiteys. A while before I'd moved, I'd done the customary clearing of wechat contacts I no longer bothered with. Somehow, Chinese people always know when you delete them and she added me again and seemed sad. I accepted. I can be nice once in every blue Hell.
So then last night rolls around, I'm in my much better Hong Kong apartment lying in my much softer Hong Kong bed when I get a wechat message which is odd here in Hong Kong as most everybody uses Whatsapp. It's her. She's messaging to ask for a favor. She wants me to buy a new iPhone (because they're cheaper here, apparently) and come to Beijing to deliver it to her in exchange for the cost of the phone. I bluntly told her I'm not a pack mule and that you don't ask favors like this from people you hardly know. Then I suggested she get a Chinese boyfriend as most of those substitute love with a free iPhone.
What the hell? Some people actually think like this? Besides, I hate Apple and if I knew where Steve Job's grave was I'd take a hot piss all over the thing and pay a Thai ladyboy hooker to tongue lash it.
Why would somebody think this kind of thing is socially acceptable to ask of someone they hardly know without even a "Hey, how've you been lately?"?
tl;dr Apple sucks
That was a rather long intro to "A girl I only met a few times discovered I was in Hong Kong and in typical Chinese fashion asked me if I could buy an iPhone and bring it to Beijing for her".
But yes, this is very standard, exploitative Chinese behaviour.
Recently I mentioned to someone in passing that I have relatives in NZ, and the next day three of her acquaintances were calling me asking if I could get my relatives to buy baby formula and send it to China. And I was like "Ahhh... no."
I frequently get approached by teachers I've never talked to before who want to invite me to lunch. I usually say no, but if they are persistent I eventually run out of excuses. Then, having had lunch with me, they expect me to teach their five-year-old kid and all its cousins English.
JohnathonSteel:
Yes, I'm aware of the long intro, but I felt it lent it the necessary context.
ambivalentmace:
the sad thing by the way is the savings on the iphone from mainland china versus hong kong is about what your round trip train ticket is going to cost from hong kong to beijing and back and you probably want get laid anyway for the trouble.
That was a rather long intro to "A girl I only met a few times discovered I was in Hong Kong and in typical Chinese fashion asked me if I could buy an iPhone and bring it to Beijing for her".
But yes, this is very standard, exploitative Chinese behaviour.
Recently I mentioned to someone in passing that I have relatives in NZ, and the next day three of her acquaintances were calling me asking if I could get my relatives to buy baby formula and send it to China. And I was like "Ahhh... no."
I frequently get approached by teachers I've never talked to before who want to invite me to lunch. I usually say no, but if they are persistent I eventually run out of excuses. Then, having had lunch with me, they expect me to teach their five-year-old kid and all its cousins English.
JohnathonSteel:
Yes, I'm aware of the long intro, but I felt it lent it the necessary context.
ambivalentmace:
the sad thing by the way is the savings on the iphone from mainland china versus hong kong is about what your round trip train ticket is going to cost from hong kong to beijing and back and you probably want get laid anyway for the trouble.
is bowling a metaphor for something? cuz what kind of person who lives in the most boring place in the world wouldn't wanna go bowling? well,, anyway...
what's up w/ the vicious Apple hate? seems odd...
what does it mean when they write - 'tl;dr' ? I have seen that on numerous postings.
Seriously man, you are one rude and vile human being!
Hotwater:
Nope, not a wumao.....seems quite a sensible and accurate comment to me. In most of your postings you've come across as a right arsehole!
ambivalentmace:
assholes have always been my most productive employees, as opposed to ass kissers that is, at least we know what we are getting instead of having to guess, but keep them away from meeting the public positions.
the "ask to ring some stuff from home country" is almost as awful as the "can I come stay with you next time you are in your home country"
the long sentences in this writing style seem oddly similar to dongbeiren
I accept anyone's wechat and if they message me I will usually block them soon after unless they surprise me by being interesting and not wanting anything.
My colleagues think I am an anti-social asshole (I am) because I always refuse going to dinner or other situation that will inevitably result in me being exploited in some way.
You could have made a profit, although perhaps not given the way she wanted it delivered. China is a consumer culture, so if you help these people buy products abroad for a profit they will pay handsomely.
My family makes money in Germany this way, we don't even need a job anymore. Say what you will of the phenomenon, biy I'm glad I can be with my young kids all day, and don't have to go to some office job.
