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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: What good things can we learn from the Chinese?
I already learned three useful things since I came to China and I will use them the rest of my life:
1) When you disagree about something, sometimes it is best not to say so right away.
2) Being "politically correct" is not right and can even back-fire on you.
3) Don't be in a rush to negotiate anything until you see the big picture.
1 & 2 contradicts in my mind.
"Do you like <gross food>?"
"Yeah sometimes"
and then you will eat this the rest of your life.
Objection!
1) If you disagree about something, it is best to say so clearly, and right away. That is how people solve problems. The Chinese method (pleasantries and praise-giving instead of honesty, integrity or bravery) does not work.
Because Chinese people never call each other on their BS, the most belligerent and aggressive ones always end up at the top. At which point no one complains.
2) The lack of political correctness was something I initially found endearing, but which I have since realised causes massive, systemic problems for everyone who isn't a Han ethnicity male. It also informs and validates China's foreign policy, sense of inherent superiority, and indifference to human misery.
Due to never being challenged on their stupid, insular, xenophobic, bigoted ideas, Chinese people feel a sense of complete entitlement in their opinions towards ethnic minorities, dark-skinned people, other cultures, and anyone who seems different.
Once you hear female students advocate revenge genocide (by head-stamping) against modern Japanese people, you may see their lack of sensitivity in a different light.
3) If Chinese people saw the big picture, they would not accept their present conditions. They would stop getting irrationally angry about tiny, uninhabited islands hundreds of miles away, realise the dire condition their own country is in, and start helping each other. Chinese people's extraordinary lack of awareness is the CCP's greatest victory.
So:
I think the good things we can learn from the Chinese (and I encourage the next poster to refute these) are:
1) How to hold a table tennis bat (hint: it's not like you hold a tennis racqet)
2) Unripe peaches are yummy
3) Left-handed people are deserving of admiration and wonder
Scandinavian:
3) You mean force left handed children to write with the right hand, right !!!!
Samsara:
Glaring logical flaws are something the Chinese hive mind cannot yet compute.
Students: Woooow! You use your left hand.
Me: Yep
Students: Left handed people are more clever.
Me: Then why do Chinese parents and teachers force children to use their right hand?
Students: (blank face) ........
........ (brain reset initiated) ........
........ Do you like Chinese food!!!!?
China (and Asia to a greater extent) taught what is common between cultures (same insecurities, same aspirations) and what is different (how to address insecurities and fullfill the aspirations) between cultures. It taught me, to some extent, to think with a very different mindset. Without living in Asia, I'm not sure I would comprehend these things.
How to bargain when you make purchases of almost anything.
RiriRiri:
At first, I thought bargaining was a nice habit to have too. And this is something I've learned in China and it is useful I won't deny that.
Now the problem I have is that I wouldn't do it so much back home not because I can't but because I don't want to.
In China, it is an essential process because by default, people are trying to rip you off with cheap stuff that's not worth its starting price. They'll hide defects if they can and won't give two shits afterwards. So you just can't be soft about any merchandise.
Back home, on marketplaces or elsewhere for that matter, I won't do that, because untrustworthy people are the exception, not the rule. Prices are usually reasonable and you end up with quality products sold with a smile more often than the other way around.
making noodles
Nessquick:
spaghetiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
gone make some tonight.
thanks for advice
TMaster:
Put both in boiling water for about 10 minutes, you'll see whether it's the same bloddy thing.
Nessquick:
depend what noodles. chinese noodles can't alive 2-3 minits of boiling, while "western" style, or my grandmom noodles was about the same consistency and durability, as italian spagheti, while tasted even better
My original though was about the process of making, its a kinda funny and entertaining to see " master of noodles" in work.
In all seriousness,
Credit where it's due,
Something we can learn from the Chinese is goal-setting/strategic thinking. I genuinely admire that when I ask most of the people i've met here what their goal is...they have a clear immediate answer, even if it's just something like get high exam score/buy house/get married.
I try to keep my goals a little more varied than that, but I've learned that it is good to have a clear idea of why you are doing what you're doing. That's something positive about myself that I absolutely learned from the Chinese example.
Scandinavian:
and those stereotypes are not from themselves but from their parents and grand parents.
expatlife26:
Yes they are...and speaking from experience those ARE often goals cited when you ask someone.
I'm not saying they are MY goals or that they should be pursued to the exclusion of other aspects of life. But they are absolutely 100% personal goals and I think that I have gotten better at setting them for myself since I got here.
How is "I want to save to buy a house" or "I want to study and get a good score on _____ exam" not a clear goal?
expatlife26:
maybe they are just things imposed from others...I dunno.
I sincerely believe that I have improved my own life by learning to set and keep track of short/medium/long term goals.
I really don't care why they tend to act that way...it's just something that has been a positive inspiration for me. And that's my answer to the OP.
andy74rc:
Got your point Expatlife, and agree on the absolute usefulness of setting goals as a matter of principle. But, what Scando and I are remarking here is that, scratching the surface, what most of the time you hear sound like good propositions to which the speaker himself probably doesn't believe. Pretty much parrot like.
expatlife26:
Well as the friend of a Blue & Gold Macaw...I can tell you there is absolutely nothing wrong with being parrot-like. In fact I wish the were MORE parrot-like because when a parrot comes to visit there are lots of fun games to play with them
You guys are right those are stereotypical examples, but when you talk to smart people here I really do think they have a little bit more of a sense of purpose in their actions and that's something I think we could learn from.
I ask somebody at work (pretty smart people) "What do you want right now?" out of the blue...i'll generally get an answer that's more like "I want to be more aggressive with my retirment fund" or "I want to take my daughter to paris again". Instead of the "I could really go for a cheeseburger" or something like that I might hear from my expat friends.
Listen if you've read either of my blogs you can see I don't give out a ton of compliments. I wouldn't say this if I didn't sincerely believe it.
I've learned to eat slower. Sometimes I eat to fast and then feel uncomfortable. But a Chinese friend always remind me to eat slower.
I've learned to take useful gifts to a person's house the first time I visit.
I've learned that if you put yourself first, beofre everyone else, then society might collapse.
I have learned to be more patient in some instances and in others...
tell people to screw off right away with no hint of politeness when they are trying to walk all over you.
I don't know if this is GOOD, but I learned it anyway.
I find that "politically correct" is one of those terms that has such a nebulous definition, that no one seems to agree on the meaning. For people opposed to it, the meaning is something like "Thought control, and dishonest double speak". For those in favor, it's more like "Basic decency to not say offensive and bigoted things".
When you say China is politically incorrect, it's more in the "Bigoted and offensive", but even there, it's a double standard. Han Chinese are culturally permitted to say anything about non-Han Chinese ("Kill the Japanese for revenge", "Blacks are all criminals", or "All non-yellow people are eternally foreigners, and their brains are simply incapable of comprehending the intricacies of Chinese culture and society, much like a dog attempting to understand calculus" are all common sentiments). However, say anything critical of China (which, despite the "56 nationalities living in harmony" rhetoric, is understood to be Han country, populated by 55 groups of untermenchen), and you'll be blasted for insulting the Chinese people.