Now that my Mandarin skills are developing I’ve been spending a lot more time out and about conversing with locals, and thus far I’ve found the best method for doing so is to bring a good sense of humor to the table. Chinese people tend to think of foreigners in their country as pretty silly creatures to begin with, so it’s not all that hard to make them laugh, but often times it can lead to a better, more fulfilling encounter. It eases the tension sometimes felt when meeting a foreigner for the first time, as well as sends a message of affability, so I always try and keep the mood light when I’m talking with locals.
People always ask me where I’m from, and though for the most part Chinese people are friendly to Americans, especially young people, it can sometimes bring up some uncomfortable issues. Chinese people have no issue talking about money, and so when they find out I’m American they usually say something along the lines of, “America is very rich compared to China,” or they ask me something like, “How much money do your parents make?” While this doesn’t make them uncomfortable in the least, sometimes it makes me squirm a little, especially when I’m talking a person who very poor. So instead I’ve started telling them that I’m a “Hua xing ren,” a martian. This is always good for a couple of laughs and some interesting banter.
“You’re from Mars? What are you doing in China?”
“I just came here today to buy some shoes and then I’m going back to Mars tomorrow. I don’t care much for Earth. It’s far too cold.”
Sometimes when they ask me where I’m from I tell them and then ask them where they’re from.
“I’m from China of course!”
“Oh really? I could’ve sworn you were from France!”
Another question I’m commonly asked is how much alcohol I can drink. Drinking is somewhere along the lines of a competitive sport in China, and as legend has it Americans are the New York Yankees of drinking. So when they ask me how many bottles of beer I can drink in one sitting, I usually tell them something outrageous, like forty bottles in one hour. The funny thing is that at first they usuallybelieve me, as they have no basis to judge my answer against. They also usually believe me when I tell them I’m close friends with Kobe Bryant and Lebron James, and that I Shaq invited me to his birthday party but I couldn’t make it. Sometimes I admit I’m lying, and sometimes don’t, but all in all it always makes for a pretty interesting conversation.
Yesterday I went out for a bike ride and stopped at a gravel yard to take some pictures when I was suddenly surrounded by a gang of middle-aged Chinese men, all blabbering at me at once. I ended up spending hours with these guys, drinking baiju with the boss, arm wrestling, and even getting the chance to drive one of their tractors.
In the meantime they tried and failed to my ride my bike—apparently I have very long legs—asked me about American women’s breasts, and carried on like a bunch of eighth graders on permanent recess. They even forced baiju down the throat of their boss when he couldn’t keep up with me. It was all around jovial experience, one I will remember for the rest of my life.
April 26, 2010 at 8:32 am
I love this story, especially that you just showed up and got to drive the tractor, presumably under the the influence. Your blog is so entertaining and instightful and I really look forward to reading it every day.
April 26, 2010 at 11:00 am
A big part of life is just going for the gold and doing what feels good. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to drive that thing but they were willing to let me try and I thought I would probably never have that opportunity again…and I wasn’t drunk yet. In fact after we started drinking they offered to let me drive a bigger one, but I turned the offer down.
April 27, 2010 at 6:09 am
you should of went for the bigger one…
April 29, 2010 at 1:47 pm
great story dude! except you used the Yankees as a metaphor for greatness. f that, you should know better.
May 12, 2010 at 5:51 am
My girlfriend and I are moving to China at the end of this August, and I’ve been reading blogs on the Net to learn more about the culture.
I’m really dying to see how different, similar, and incomparable China is to South Korea–where I’ve been living and teaching for the past five and half years.
Your blog is awesome, and I’m going to be reading back posts for some time….
Thanks for blogging.
Jason
May 12, 2010 at 6:09 am
Thanks Jason, glad you found me! I’m actually living with a bunch of kids from South Korea, and as far as I can tell China seems vastly different from their country, but I think that that may have more to do with economics and politics more so than culture. The Koreans I’m living with seem to be very pre-occupied with cleanliness, and by all accounts Chinese people are not, or at least it seems to be a different sort of cleanliness. They also complain about the food a lot, though they seem to be getting used to it. I guess Korean food is good deal spicier than the food we eat here in Liaocheng. Where will you be living?
May 12, 2010 at 6:24 am
Hi Chris,
We’re still waiting to hear from 3 different universities we applied to and I don’t want to jinx anything by saying where . . . . let’s say they’re all within an hour or so (I think, lol) of Shanghai.
Right now I’m teaching high school boys, and the second graders all went to Beijing for a week long field trip. The general consensus when they got back was,
1) It’s very dirty and polluted.
2) Chinese food is disgusting.
3) China has a lot of crime–though no one got robbed or had any problems.
4) Chinese girls are ‘dirty, dirty’–which I find incredibly bizarre.
5) Channel 3 in the hotel had great AV, lol.
6) They found street food fascinating. For example scorpions on a stick, sheep penis, and bull’s balls were the favorites to talk about.
….and the list goes on.
Four native English teachers I worked with in Korea back in 2007 went on to China, and when they compare living and teaching in China to Korea–China wins, no contest. I’m VERY curious to see what conclusions I reach for myself about the differences, similarities and those things which should not be compared….
Korean food is, in general, spicy. A common expat joke is that Koreans only know four flavors: spicy, salty, sweet, and pickled–oh, maybe add a fifth dimension of all of them combined, lol.
I really doubt that modern western standards of hygiene are any worse, let alone better, in China than they are in Korea. I find it hysterically ironic (if I can be permitted to combine those two things) that the Korean students are claiming that Korea is ‘cleaner.’ Ask them about the major ad campaign the government had to do because of the H1N1 scare because Koreans in general, and this is an ACCURATE generalization, do not wash their hands with hot water and soap let alone cover their nose and mouth when sneezing and coughing….
In spite of all the negatives I’ve enjoyed my time in Korea, but it’s time to move on and try new things and experience a new culture. If you have a few minutes check out my blog–it seems we have similar styles in terms of taking pictures and then writing about them.
I’ll post more comments as I read your posts. Your post about the guys in the gravel yard reminded me of the year I spent living on Ganghwa Island, just 3km south of the border with North Korea. Hospitality and interactions with the locals were very similar to what you experience, and in some ways I miss that (I’m living in Seoul right now).
Anyways, I look forward to reading more on your blog.
Cheers,
J
May 12, 2010 at 10:50 am
If you really want to have a genuine cultural experience I would strongly reccomen staying as far away from Shanghai as possible…Beijing too. While they’re both great cities, they are heavily influenced by Western culture and modern culture. The really interesting stuff is off the beaten path, especially in the country-side.
May 15, 2010 at 6:34 pm
If ur close friends w/ Kobe, u should’ve told him not to do this:
http://msofficer.com/2010/05/14/queen-kobe/