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Q: I wonder what Chinese people think of our countries?
I wonder what Chinese people think of other countries they live in?
for eg if they go to New Zealand to live and work do they bitch and moan about New Zealand and how people drive,do they like New Zealand people?or the food?do they want to try and Change everything?Is it to clean for them?do they bitch about customer service?
or is being in a different country better than being in China?
love to read your thoughts on this.
that's a good question. From my experience a lot of whether locals here like foreign countries has to do with their social status here in China.
The more average people i've met that have gotten to travel abroad usually really like it. Of course they like that it's usually cleaner and better organized. (This "DMV" is the most efficient organization i've ever seen!) Maybe frustrated about language and maybe a little insecure about how it's nicer but usually positive feelings.
Where i see the negative attitudes are with the wealthier/more privileged set. And I have a lot to say about this from my own experiences. I went to a private prep school and we had a handful of chinese kids back in my time and of course they were all from wealthier families. Definitely wealthier than the average american kid at the school cause it definitely a 2nd level school compared to the ones that really rich american kids go to.
Anyway, I think these guys fucking hated it. And that was because they suddenly became uncompetitive. Bunch of doughy, spoiled, smug weaklings aren't going to impress american kids even if their families have money you know? We're definitely not going to suck up to them. The girls would date American guys if they wanted to and the guys would just sit around and sulk that nobody was impressed by them.
Here's a story for an example. In precalc class a couple of these kids were caught using their translators to cheat on a math test and the rest of us started clowning them. One of the chinese guys who was caught accused an american kid in our class of being too poor to afford electronics and just jealous of him. After class the kid who was insulted shoved the chinese kid in the snow, yelled at him, got his face dirty etc...didn't hurt him but seriously humiliated him physically.
He didn't get in trouble either cause the headmaster kept to the concept of "fighting words" (thank god for private schools, wouldn't fly in a public one) that the chinese kid had said something he should have known would provoke a reaction...that in the US we don't make fun of people for being poor. And given the other kid didn't hurt him the chinese kid was no need to punish him further
But the chinese kid was seriously outraged about all this. Obviously shocked that nobody cared that his dad was whatever his dad was...americans are all violent savages etc. So I think that can be an issue with some of the wealthier ones. They're used to being special, but their special is dependent on their place in the local system. Put them abroad and they hate being at the bottom.
So really it just depends on whether the environment abroad is better for them or not. I think for most of the average people it's way better abroad so they appreciate it. People working at mcdonalds in the US have cars for example. But at the top people abroad aren't impressed by them so it's not flattering.
expatlife26:
the strangest part of my story from high school is that the kid who was mocked for being poor was totally not poor. I guess it was just the most vicious thing that person could think of to say.
What i've learned living here really puts a lot of prior experiences with Chinese people in perspective. And I also think going to a school like that made me better equipped for moving here in the first place.
that's a good question. From my experience a lot of whether locals here like foreign countries has to do with their social status here in China.
The more average people i've met that have gotten to travel abroad usually really like it. Of course they like that it's usually cleaner and better organized. (This "DMV" is the most efficient organization i've ever seen!) Maybe frustrated about language and maybe a little insecure about how it's nicer but usually positive feelings.
Where i see the negative attitudes are with the wealthier/more privileged set. And I have a lot to say about this from my own experiences. I went to a private prep school and we had a handful of chinese kids back in my time and of course they were all from wealthier families. Definitely wealthier than the average american kid at the school cause it definitely a 2nd level school compared to the ones that really rich american kids go to.
Anyway, I think these guys fucking hated it. And that was because they suddenly became uncompetitive. Bunch of doughy, spoiled, smug weaklings aren't going to impress american kids even if their families have money you know? We're definitely not going to suck up to them. The girls would date American guys if they wanted to and the guys would just sit around and sulk that nobody was impressed by them.
Here's a story for an example. In precalc class a couple of these kids were caught using their translators to cheat on a math test and the rest of us started clowning them. One of the chinese guys who was caught accused an american kid in our class of being too poor to afford electronics and just jealous of him. After class the kid who was insulted shoved the chinese kid in the snow, yelled at him, got his face dirty etc...didn't hurt him but seriously humiliated him physically.
He didn't get in trouble either cause the headmaster kept to the concept of "fighting words" (thank god for private schools, wouldn't fly in a public one) that the chinese kid had said something he should have known would provoke a reaction...that in the US we don't make fun of people for being poor. And given the other kid didn't hurt him the chinese kid was no need to punish him further
But the chinese kid was seriously outraged about all this. Obviously shocked that nobody cared that his dad was whatever his dad was...americans are all violent savages etc. So I think that can be an issue with some of the wealthier ones. They're used to being special, but their special is dependent on their place in the local system. Put them abroad and they hate being at the bottom.
So really it just depends on whether the environment abroad is better for them or not. I think for most of the average people it's way better abroad so they appreciate it. People working at mcdonalds in the US have cars for example. But at the top people abroad aren't impressed by them so it's not flattering.
expatlife26:
the strangest part of my story from high school is that the kid who was mocked for being poor was totally not poor. I guess it was just the most vicious thing that person could think of to say.
What i've learned living here really puts a lot of prior experiences with Chinese people in perspective. And I also think going to a school like that made me better equipped for moving here in the first place.
Apart from what expat said, which I think was bang on, I think most of the complaints would be similar in nature to our complaints.
As in, people being homesick, out their comfort zones and venting. They probably whine about the malls closing too early, or how Chinese food is crap in Waiguo, or the city they live in isn't bustling and chaotic(so it's dull and boring) like what they're used to, and how the rednecks mock them.
Overall though they choose to be there so must feel it's the place to be for whatever reason. Just like most of us do.
expatlife26:
yeah I think they can find some of the rule enforcement stressful as well. Like they're used to kinda having anything go and suddenly they have to worry about getting ticketed for jaywalking or spitting or something. Or being confronted by strangers for what we consider poor manners.
All this stuff that seems normal to us they don't know what's acceptable or not and I can see that being a source of anxiety not knowing if you're gonna get called out at any time. Even for somebody who basically means well.
I recently went to Thailand for holiday. I saw so many Chinese tourist buses everyday. loads and loads of them. They stayed to themselves. Im sure they acted similar to South Koreans that go on these big grouped package tours, and gawk at the real world like its some sort of zoo to be entertained and amused by. In a way I pity them, as they do seem quite lost outside of the middle kingdom. In a way, I dont pity them as well, because of how their culture is designed to make them so incompatible with the rest of the world.
expatlife26:
That's a good point too. I think the way those tours are set up is very much a "zoo" kind of experience. Go around in a bubble of your culture to gawk at people living a different way.
I dunno what those people think about our countries, they probably have a good time though in their way.
Over the years I've come to learn that the Chinese in general believe Englishmen to all be gentlemen and England to be constantly clouded in fog. Which is the absolute truth on both counts. Top marks!
iWolf:
Don't you all wear bowler hats and 3 piece suits whilst carrying an umbrella?
Hotwater:
Oi! Some of us still wear flat caps, keep ferrets in our trousers & work in't mill!
My neighbour was in Spain for a year with her daughter who went to a school and now in university.
They didn't and don't like it... It's not like China. No, not the weather - weather was great.
Just, it wasn't like China. And no 'real' Chinese food... And, of course, they don't like Spanish food (including Paella!)
Would they bitch about it? Probably to their friends and relatives Maybe not online.
Chinese have this saying - 'East and West, home is the best". It's utter garbage, of course, but it's been ingrained.
Free health care
Childcare rebate part 1 ad part 2
Rent assistance
uemployment benifits
workers compensation
single mothers pention
disability pention
free education
the list is endless but the money isnt 
