I should probably clarify what I mean. No, they’re not too open about “alternative lifestyles” or what they really think of the government. But when it comes to finances or well-being, they’re very blunt.
I used to be caught off guard when Chinese people used to ask me how much I earn, and now I alarm my friends when I ask them how much they make (sorry if I’ve ever made you feel uncomfortable). As awkward as I feel telling Chinese coworkers or friends how much I make because of the huge salary disparities, I am always inquisitive about what other foreigners are earning in China. If anything, it lets me know where I am in the scheme of things and how much more I could potentially earn.
Chinese people are always curious about how much you paid for something – be it your new knock-off handbag or the cost of your rent. At first, I didn’t really like being that open. I mean, I don’t want these people to think I’m overly privileged. But as time’s gone on, I’ve found myself inquisitive about how much people are paying for things and I’ve lost my shame in asking. In fact, when I found out a friend was paying 150+ more for her apartment that’s in the same building is the same size as mine, I felt pretty good about my bargaining skills.
I have also come to appreciate their honesty when it comes to how people look. When coworkers or friends see old pictures of me they will say “Oh you’ve lost your baby fat” or “You’re much thinner now” whereas my mom would just say, “You’ve always looked good.” And if I ever do get a little pudgy, I’m sure they’d let me know that “Oh you’ve gained weight, you should just eat fruit.” While some could argue this behevaior could trigger eating disorders in some, I think it’s good that people aren’t afraid to be honest.
On the flipside, I almost lost it one time a coworker commented on my skin. For whatever reason, I was going through a 6-month phase where my skin was going crazy and was completely broken out. She said something along the lines of “what is wrong with your face?” and told me I should “stop eating spicy food.” To which I quickly told her that she shouldn’t say things like that – not to Chinese people and especially not to foreigners. And I let her know that spicy foods did not actually cause breakouts. It felt good to dispel that ridiculous idea to at least one Chinese person.
Jul 29, 2010
Jul 27, 2010
What I like about you: The food
As you know, I just celebrated my one-year anniversary with China, actually it was on the 24th. Again, I can’t believe it’s been a year. And while it pains me to be far away from friends and family at home, I really, really, really enjoy it here (especially Shanghai). So to all the curious minds wondering why I am not ready to hop on a plane back to the US, I’d like to present to you a few reasons why I like living in China. Some are obvious, the others may surprise you.
I’m going to start with the food.
Ok. This is obvious. Any foreigner will say one of the first things they love about China is the food. While China’s food safety is somewhat questionable, Chinese dishes are awesome! They can be spicy, sweet, flavorful and even fresh. And this isn’t your General Tsao’s chicken or sweet and sour pork (although they do have that here). It’s enough to make you hungry… and now I am hungry.
There’s also fresh fruit on almost every street corner. Long gone are the days when I would snack on chips, crackers or even quakes (Oh how I miss you quakes). I’m very happy to say that I can easily and cheaply get fruit anywhere, anytime in this city. And it’s also in season. While I miss not having strawberries and grapes year-round. At least I know they’re giving me what’s been grown nearby and not what’s been flown from across the globe.
I also love the veggie markets. I’ve found my new veggie dealer and they have great tomatoes, carrots, broccoli and peppers and I can usually get all of this stuff for less than $5.
Did I mention I love how cheap things in China are?
I’m going to start with the food.
Ok. This is obvious. Any foreigner will say one of the first things they love about China is the food. While China’s food safety is somewhat questionable, Chinese dishes are awesome! They can be spicy, sweet, flavorful and even fresh. And this isn’t your General Tsao’s chicken or sweet and sour pork (although they do have that here). It’s enough to make you hungry… and now I am hungry.
There’s also fresh fruit on almost every street corner. Long gone are the days when I would snack on chips, crackers or even quakes (Oh how I miss you quakes). I’m very happy to say that I can easily and cheaply get fruit anywhere, anytime in this city. And it’s also in season. While I miss not having strawberries and grapes year-round. At least I know they’re giving me what’s been grown nearby and not what’s been flown from across the globe.
I also love the veggie markets. I’ve found my new veggie dealer and they have great tomatoes, carrots, broccoli and peppers and I can usually get all of this stuff for less than $5.
Did I mention I love how cheap things in China are?
Jul 20, 2010
One year and counting...
Can you believe that it has been a year that I moved to China? I can’t either. This year has flown by! It’s been a good one, no great one, for the most part. I’ve survived in “real China” aka Nanjing for 9 months, traveled to a few new places, met some great new friends and landed an awesome job in a city that I love more and more every day.
So to switch it up, and since I know how to use the feature now, I thought I’d share a few photos of my journey so far in China. It’s been one year, but I’m not ready to go home just yet. And I look forward to see what's in store for the next year!
Mom, Brother and me in Yangshou.
Riding an elephant in Thailand. Coolest thing I did all year.
Playing with two little kiddies who used to crash our weekend BBQs in Nanjing.
Teaching my roommate the art of the "Asian tourist" pic mixed with the classic "kissy face" pose.
So to switch it up, and since I know how to use the feature now, I thought I’d share a few photos of my journey so far in China. It’s been one year, but I’m not ready to go home just yet. And I look forward to see what's in store for the next year!
Jul 12, 2010
Chinese Character Challenges
Today, in my daily news scouring, I found this really interesting article about how more and more young Chinese people are having difficulty handwriting characters. With the invention of pinyin, the phonetic spelling of Chinese characters with Roman letters, and the use of cell phones and computers, it’s almost unnecessary to handwrite Chinese characters.
The article talks about how it’s a national and significant problem that people are forgetting how to handwrite characters. They’ve even hired teachers specifically to teach handwriting. It’s actually kind of sad because it’s a big part of their culture. Writing Chinese is like creating art, and calligraphists can actually make a lot of money. Ellen’s dad taught calligraphy and it seemed to keep the family afloat. It was really neat seeing him write out the characters in fluid, waving motions.
As a Chinese language learner, I think handwriting characters is one of the hardest things about the language. First of all, there characters are made up of many “radicals”, which are basically mini characters that are combined to make new characters. There is a specific order to writing each radical. And for each radical, there is a specific stroke order. It’s not easy.
My Chinese teacher in university stressed the importance of “stroke order” and could usually tell if we weren’t following it. It really does make a difference to how the overall character looks. Despite the tediousness of it, I enjoyed writing characters in college. It was like making mini pictures.
Unfortunately, I’ve kind of given up on learning to write Chinese characters. If I was studying full time then I would put in a little more effort, but I have a tough time as it is fitting in the time to study my oral and computer-written Chinese. In fact, my Chinese tutor was surprised when I told him I wanted to learn the characters. He kind of looked at me like “Why?” and said “most of my students only want to speak Chinese, learning the characters is much harder.” Yeah, I know.
I guess its kind of like forgetting how to spell. I’ve never been a great speller. In fact, I remember teachers talking about how much they hated spell check on computers. You had to go in and change the settings in Word on computers in the J-school labs in order to enable spell check – that’s how much they hated it. But I can’t imagine forgetting how to write!
Chinese isn’t easy. Native speakers will even tell you that. At least I know that they have trouble with their own language and they grew up with it, giving a glimmer of hope to all Chinese language learners out there, or at least this one.
The article talks about how it’s a national and significant problem that people are forgetting how to handwrite characters. They’ve even hired teachers specifically to teach handwriting. It’s actually kind of sad because it’s a big part of their culture. Writing Chinese is like creating art, and calligraphists can actually make a lot of money. Ellen’s dad taught calligraphy and it seemed to keep the family afloat. It was really neat seeing him write out the characters in fluid, waving motions.
As a Chinese language learner, I think handwriting characters is one of the hardest things about the language. First of all, there characters are made up of many “radicals”, which are basically mini characters that are combined to make new characters. There is a specific order to writing each radical. And for each radical, there is a specific stroke order. It’s not easy.
My Chinese teacher in university stressed the importance of “stroke order” and could usually tell if we weren’t following it. It really does make a difference to how the overall character looks. Despite the tediousness of it, I enjoyed writing characters in college. It was like making mini pictures.
Unfortunately, I’ve kind of given up on learning to write Chinese characters. If I was studying full time then I would put in a little more effort, but I have a tough time as it is fitting in the time to study my oral and computer-written Chinese. In fact, my Chinese tutor was surprised when I told him I wanted to learn the characters. He kind of looked at me like “Why?” and said “most of my students only want to speak Chinese, learning the characters is much harder.” Yeah, I know.
I guess its kind of like forgetting how to spell. I’ve never been a great speller. In fact, I remember teachers talking about how much they hated spell check on computers. You had to go in and change the settings in Word on computers in the J-school labs in order to enable spell check – that’s how much they hated it. But I can’t imagine forgetting how to write!
Chinese isn’t easy. Native speakers will even tell you that. At least I know that they have trouble with their own language and they grew up with it, giving a glimmer of hope to all Chinese language learners out there, or at least this one.
Jul 11, 2010
I can't teach young dogs new tricks.
I really hope this doesn’t come out racist/rude/etc., but I marvel at how many of my Chinese coworkers have a hard time learning new things. Mostly, it’s just how they keep on doing one thing even though you’ve said to do something different.
I’ve already run into a few issues of plagiarism, where “reporters” have taken entire paragraphs from web sites and only changed a few words. My foreign boss and I have told the editor who communicates and manages reporters’ stories to keep a look out for this. Yet not much has changed.
I’ve also asked this editor to make sure reporters adhere to the word limit on their stories. Sure, cutting out an extra 150 words isn’t too difficult, but when the reporters have added an additional 500 words to their usually unimportant story, it gets a bit annoying.
And then there was the time I sent a reporter some suggestions for how to write quotes. You know, I get that the English language is difficult, especially news-style writing. But when a native English speaker sends you some guidelines on how to write quotes when you are writing them incorrectly, you should probably readjust your writing. Did she? Nope. The 20-minutes I spent writing that email to essentially help her in her English must have just fallen by the way side. Her next story after I sent that helpful, polite, nice email offering some suggestions and guidelines was riddled with the same errors.
Some people say that Asians are so smart. Sometimes I really doubt the Chinese. Sure, they study hard and can regurgitate information, but when it comes to adjusting and taking criticism, a lot just can’t do it.
But then there are those Chinese like one of the interns here, who, rather than take a nap at her desk when the day is slow, is busy reading books in English about news writing. Go figure, this is one of the few soon-to-be reporters who has lived abroad and can think critically.
I’ve already run into a few issues of plagiarism, where “reporters” have taken entire paragraphs from web sites and only changed a few words. My foreign boss and I have told the editor who communicates and manages reporters’ stories to keep a look out for this. Yet not much has changed.
I’ve also asked this editor to make sure reporters adhere to the word limit on their stories. Sure, cutting out an extra 150 words isn’t too difficult, but when the reporters have added an additional 500 words to their usually unimportant story, it gets a bit annoying.
And then there was the time I sent a reporter some suggestions for how to write quotes. You know, I get that the English language is difficult, especially news-style writing. But when a native English speaker sends you some guidelines on how to write quotes when you are writing them incorrectly, you should probably readjust your writing. Did she? Nope. The 20-minutes I spent writing that email to essentially help her in her English must have just fallen by the way side. Her next story after I sent that helpful, polite, nice email offering some suggestions and guidelines was riddled with the same errors.
Some people say that Asians are so smart. Sometimes I really doubt the Chinese. Sure, they study hard and can regurgitate information, but when it comes to adjusting and taking criticism, a lot just can’t do it.
But then there are those Chinese like one of the interns here, who, rather than take a nap at her desk when the day is slow, is busy reading books in English about news writing. Go figure, this is one of the few soon-to-be reporters who has lived abroad and can think critically.
Jul 5, 2010
Trains – no planes or automobiles.
When I moved to Nanjing almost a year ago I kept hearing about this elusive “fast train.” I had a hard time figuring it out when it would open, but finally a few months ago the date was set for July 1st. Of course it would open after I moved from Nanjing. But lucky for me, I was one of the first people to try out the new train. I left Thursday night for my last trip to Nanjing for a while.
What used to be a 2.5-hour train ride now ranges from 73 to about 110 minutes with this new fast train. It also gets to cities close to Shanghai, like Kunshan and Suzhou, in minutes. And since more and more people are moving out to surrounding cities to avoid absurdly high housing prices in Shanghai, it probably takes about the same traveling on the fast train to get to work as it would if you were living in the outskirts of Shanghai.
And did I mention it runs off electricity? I’m all for the fast train?
Anyway, this description of train travel in China comes with a point: for domestic travel, I think China has got it right with its extensive train routes. By 2012, China train routes will be greater than the whole world combined. It’s efficient, cheap and reliable. And figuring the time it takes to formally check in, check bags and go through the potential hassles at the airport, train travel, in some instances, train travel could actually be faster than air travel.
And when it comes to car travel between cities, I would love to have had the option to travel by train than by car. Take Florida as an example, I can’t remember the number of times I traveled from Gainesville to Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami (just to name a few). Think of how convenient, and more environmentally friendly, it would have been to have train travel as an option? Sure there’s Amtrak, but that pales in comparison to what the Chinese have done in train travel.
That’s not to say that I don’t think air travel is a waste. How else would I be able to fly home? And would I take a train from Atlanta to New York or California? Probably not. I’ve spared my thoughts on the on-going oil spill, but in a time when the need lower dependency on oil couldn’t be any clearer, I think considering adopting fast train technology and trying to use it at home in the U.S. is a good start.
What used to be a 2.5-hour train ride now ranges from 73 to about 110 minutes with this new fast train. It also gets to cities close to Shanghai, like Kunshan and Suzhou, in minutes. And since more and more people are moving out to surrounding cities to avoid absurdly high housing prices in Shanghai, it probably takes about the same traveling on the fast train to get to work as it would if you were living in the outskirts of Shanghai.
And did I mention it runs off electricity? I’m all for the fast train?
Anyway, this description of train travel in China comes with a point: for domestic travel, I think China has got it right with its extensive train routes. By 2012, China train routes will be greater than the whole world combined. It’s efficient, cheap and reliable. And figuring the time it takes to formally check in, check bags and go through the potential hassles at the airport, train travel, in some instances, train travel could actually be faster than air travel.
And when it comes to car travel between cities, I would love to have had the option to travel by train than by car. Take Florida as an example, I can’t remember the number of times I traveled from Gainesville to Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami (just to name a few). Think of how convenient, and more environmentally friendly, it would have been to have train travel as an option? Sure there’s Amtrak, but that pales in comparison to what the Chinese have done in train travel.
That’s not to say that I don’t think air travel is a waste. How else would I be able to fly home? And would I take a train from Atlanta to New York or California? Probably not. I’ve spared my thoughts on the on-going oil spill, but in a time when the need lower dependency on oil couldn’t be any clearer, I think considering adopting fast train technology and trying to use it at home in the U.S. is a good start.
Jul 4, 2010
Happy America Day!
I'm feeling a little homesick today. I'm a few weeks away from my one-year anniversary in China, and would love nothing more than to be home for the summer. The intense summer of Shanghai is in full swing. I'm getting ready for a season being hottest I've been in my life. This year's a doozey!
Of my 23 4ths of July, I have spent 21 of them at the beach. The only other time I wasn't at the beach for the 4th was when I was in Shanghai in 2007. I have to say its much more fun at the beach than in the hot, humid, sticky, gross, hazey Shanghai summertime. I swear I really do like this city.
But Happy Birthday America! Love and miss! I'll see you soon(ish)!
Of my 23 4ths of July, I have spent 21 of them at the beach. The only other time I wasn't at the beach for the 4th was when I was in Shanghai in 2007. I have to say its much more fun at the beach than in the hot, humid, sticky, gross, hazey Shanghai summertime. I swear I really do like this city.
But Happy Birthday America! Love and miss! I'll see you soon(ish)!
Jul 1, 2010
Chinglish, renting white people and what's amusing about China.
I love reading news about China. There’s a lot of it out there (duh). And lately I’ve discovered some good stuff, especially a WSJ blogging site devoted to China. And while most of the time the media coverage is covering important things – like currency reform, meetings with Chinese officials, etc – there are a few gems out there that really get me laughing and thinking “Is this really news?”
My brother and I were hanging out the other day when he got an email message from a friend. This guy was sending him and some of their friends a funny news story about China. He read the headline out loud: “Chinese companies rent white foreigners,” he said laughingly. He kind of had a shocked look on his face like. So I asked, “Have you not heard of this before?” This is a point that I’ve mentioned on my blog before, thinking it was pretty much common knowledge in China.
Surprisingly, he hadn’t heard of this. So I told him a few stories from friends in Nanjing and how they’d been rented out. I couldn’t believe this. He’s lived all over China and in smaller cities where this type of thing happens a lot. He said that while this was the first he’d heard of this, he didn’t find it surprising.
Yet if you google “China rents white people” there are all kinds of news stories. The CNN article was really a hit and other publications are reporting and commenting on this as well. I was certainly not the first to write about this, and I was really surprised that is was reported on in the US.
And Chinglish. The past few months I’ve seen a ton of Chinglish (Chinese to English mistranslations) articles and photo slideshows on reputable news sources. Even the usually informative China Real Time Report has been posting recently on Chinglish. Just to put things into perspective – Chinglish has been joked about and was considered “over done” back when I was here in 2007. Chinglish? Really? There has to be better things to write about than Chinglish.
Mostly I think “Hey, I can write this garbage.” Honestly, it's not news. Maybe it’s entertaining, maybe it’s just another reason to do the eye roll about China. But I’m interested to hear what you all, the few who read my blog, think about these articles! So in an attempt to get some commenters, I ask you all to tell me what you think. Thanks for posting!
My brother and I were hanging out the other day when he got an email message from a friend. This guy was sending him and some of their friends a funny news story about China. He read the headline out loud: “Chinese companies rent white foreigners,” he said laughingly. He kind of had a shocked look on his face like. So I asked, “Have you not heard of this before?” This is a point that I’ve mentioned on my blog before, thinking it was pretty much common knowledge in China.
Surprisingly, he hadn’t heard of this. So I told him a few stories from friends in Nanjing and how they’d been rented out. I couldn’t believe this. He’s lived all over China and in smaller cities where this type of thing happens a lot. He said that while this was the first he’d heard of this, he didn’t find it surprising.
Yet if you google “China rents white people” there are all kinds of news stories. The CNN article was really a hit and other publications are reporting and commenting on this as well. I was certainly not the first to write about this, and I was really surprised that is was reported on in the US.
And Chinglish. The past few months I’ve seen a ton of Chinglish (Chinese to English mistranslations) articles and photo slideshows on reputable news sources. Even the usually informative China Real Time Report has been posting recently on Chinglish. Just to put things into perspective – Chinglish has been joked about and was considered “over done” back when I was here in 2007. Chinglish? Really? There has to be better things to write about than Chinglish.
Mostly I think “Hey, I can write this garbage.” Honestly, it's not news. Maybe it’s entertaining, maybe it’s just another reason to do the eye roll about China. But I’m interested to hear what you all, the few who read my blog, think about these articles! So in an attempt to get some commenters, I ask you all to tell me what you think. Thanks for posting!
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