I'm sure people in China right now are already laughing. When you move to China you will hear this phrase a lot 听不懂 (tingbudong) means "to not understand (through listening)." Firstly, yes these three characters - though surprisingly- are in fact that specific. Sometimes Chinese is extremely articulate and sometimes you can't explain English in Chinese at all. Yes, in Chinese there are different ways to say that you don't understand something that is written (看不懂- kanbudong) and that you don't understand something that is spoken 听不懂 (tingbudong). You also use these two different phrases to mean you don't understand something you see or read (看不懂- kanbudong) and you don't understand something you hear or was said 听不懂 (tingbudong). There is another way to say "I don't understand" in general like we do in English (不明白- bumingbai).
听不懂 (tingbudong) is a phrase I hear a lot in China and often unfairly so. Chinese people are quick to assume foreigners don't speak their language, which I guess is fair considering during my time in China I have met foreigners who have lived here for years and don't understand much of any Chinese. Yet, I feel that one of the reasons why people don't understand much Chinese is this horrible attitude!
Chinese is a very difficult language in some ways but at the same time some Chinese phrases are so much simpler than English that not only I but also my friends have taken to using them instead of the equivalent English phrase.
The truth is my Chinese is not very good and I constantly find myself not understand one or two words in a sentence or maybe understanding the words but not understanding what they mean in the sentence being used. Or sometimes I know exactly what the person means but I just can't respond. These are all very common problems to have when in a foreign country and speaking a foreign language but people are not always understanding of it. Of course people in every country have negative reactions to interactions with foreigners who don't understand their language, my own country-mates included. But here's my problem with China. In China many people naturally assume foreigners will not be able to speak their language and not even give me a chance! Many interactions begin with the person saying a sentence and without even taking a breath ending it in 听不懂 (tingbudong) often followed by a 外国人 (waiguoren or foreigner). It's so common I even made a joke about it. When Chinese people have this attitude about foreigners I turn to my friends and say 听不懂 听不懂 外国人外国人 to them and we all precede to laugh, because sometimes it seams as though those are the only words Chinese people know!
There are other common Chinese reactions to foreigners, some of them get really quiet, refuse to talk, and then go search for someone else who speaks English. A friend recently told me that he waited for a half hour in a restaurant with friends before someone got up the courage to come in and say in English, "What would you like?" The men found it so ridiculous that they responded by looking at one another in a confused fashion and speaking in Chinese they said, "What is she talking about?"It's probably important to note that the man who told me this story is German.
Where I live is so close to Russia that people often assume that all foreigners are Russian. The other day I wanted to buy a shirt at a clothing stand on the street, when I walked up a man said "привет" instead of "hello" and when I asked him "多少钱？" or "How much?" he responded with Russian numbers. Now I can understand привет but I have never learned Russian numbers so of course I responded with "什么？" or "what?" he then said the numbers in Chinese and after I told him I spoke Chinese I told him I was American at wich he responded "There are so many Russians in our city and not many Americans so I speak Russian but I don't speak English." Which makes me wonder why so many people shout "Hello" at me across the street but not "привет!" I think that younger people assume all foreigners are American, or maybe they just hope.
Now it's not just that Chinese people assume that no foreigners could ever know Chinese, many Chinese people have the "al or nothing" notion. The options are that you can either be fluent in Chinese or speak no Chinese. When I start speaking Chinese with people they often "take-off." They use complicated words and grammar while speaking really long sentences in a row without any breaks! It's like admitting that you know any Chinese is saying "talk normally to me!" Then the person becomes frustrated again when they learn that "you really don't speak Chinese."
My favorite Chinese people are the reasonable ones, they stop their friends and say "you just have to speak slowly." I always respond to this with a smile and know I'll have a good experience with the person. Often I'll get into situations where a lot of Chinese people are trying to talk to me and one becomes the "translator." by translator I don't mean that they translate into English I mean they translate into simple Chinese. Usually these people are the ones with the best "普通话" or Mandarin, the ones who don't have a heavy accent. This type of Chinese person is rare but they're really wonderful. They will often defend me amongst other Chinese people and will change the word their using if I don't know it or even use hand gestures to get their point across. I find it funny, I feel like in America the first thing we do when we know someone is a foreigner is dumb down our language and use hand motions to express our point often to the point where we offend the foreigner because their English is much too good to need that. But here I've only known two or three people to use hand gestures to get their point across and less than 10 who have been the voice of reason saying, "just speak slowly!" And I have only had one person try to explain words to me when I say I don't understand them instead of just giving up or looking it up on their cellphone. The man was even able to explain the word "dialect" to me (方言 fangyan) which I thought was really impressive. But honestly it took me a long time to catch on to what he was doing because people never do it here!
Friday, April 26, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Being famous
I am sure that from my last two posts anyone can understand how frustrating it can be to not have Chinese features and live in China. For a person like me, to live in China is to constantly stand out. It means having people assume things about you and discussing you before ever meeting you- to a excessive degree. It means being known to random people as "that foreign girl who...".
Of course there are downsides to all this but many foreigners like the attention- at least for a little while. People who would be considered unattractive, boring, or typical in their own countries are all of a sudden as interesting as movie stars in China. This feeling can go to peoples' heads. Ugly white men with gorgeous Chinese girls are a typical sight in China. Men who would usually be passed over by women in America become the target for more Chinese girls than they can handle. Chinese men are less forward with white women, but one still sees plain looking white women called after and getting requests for photos.
My impression is that most Chinese men would rather date Chinese girls than date foreign girls. But this predisposition does not stop men from staring. I often see men with their girlfriends getting hit for staring too long at me. It interests me that in a world of homogeny the things that stand out are seen as beautiful. Chinese girls, like girls all over the world try to conform to a set look of what is beautiful. In many ways features that are seen as beautiful are ones that resemble white people. People strive to have light skin and big eyes along with lighter hair and lighter eye colors.
This predisposition I've noted does not extend to every man. I've had many men try to get my number, take me out on dates, ask if I need a Chinese tutor, follow me in an attempt to make contact with me, and my personal favorite- ask their female friends to befriend me so they can get to know me. Many others are more shy and only ask for a picture with me or try to get my attention by helping me, speaking English, or playing English music.
Everyday events like eating, going to a bar, shopping, or even riding the bus are made difficult just by being white. While at a bar or restaurant groups of Chinese people will interrupt my friends and I just to drink with me and any other foreigner in the group. Often Chinese people have the misguided notion that we're flattered by them trying to make contact with us. Often high ranking officials or government workers will think that we will see the compliment in them coming to our table to cheers with us. Yet, when I'm with my Chinese fiends and I ask them how they view the interruptions they role their eyes at the drunk old men in the exact same way my foreign friends do. Though at first events liket hese can be funny and even flattering the novelty of these events ware off, there are only so many encounters one can gave with extremely drunk old men spilling beer on you while blowing cigaret smoke into your face while drunkenly asking "how do you say cheers in English" and then hear them repeat strange English sounding words that resemble the word cheers over and over till they finally leave.
Though living while foreign can sometimes be fun in China. One afternoon with a friend got transformed into a photo shoot when I simply walked into a cosmetic store. I also end up meeting a famous local TV star because I held an English corner that she showed up at only because she knew I would be there. I've gotten numerous free things from nice store owners and had friends of friends drive me places or treat me to different activities just because they want to spend time with the American. I never have to be bored because people always want the American girl around and are more than happy to invite me a long anywhere they go, even birthday parties of friends I don't know. I get stopped in the street or grocery store by people I've only met once and don't recollect at all just to ask how I am or invite me to join them where ever they are going.
For me the attention is a lot to handle and not something I like. But for many westerners the attention makes them feel special in a way that they don't feel at home.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Dirty Ol' Chiner
As you might know the pollution in China is rampent but what you might not realize is that this pollution is not only found in the air. The media loves to show images and write stories about the terrible smog that reaches across China with hazy pictures of tall buildings disappearing into the sky and Chinese people with colorful face masks, but what the media tends not to share is the pollution that impacts every other part of nature in China.
There is a layer of oil on most water ways because of the excessive use of oil in Chinese cooking and the abundance of food carts which dump their food waste in the streets. The water in my city reminds me more of blue toilet-bowl water mixed with milky laundry detergent with an excessive algae bloom in it, though algae could never survive in it. The water looks thick, dyed and dirty and it's common to see dead animals floating among the layer of garbage along the surface. The water sparkels when you hit it at just the right angel with the colors of a prism from the sun bouncing of the gasoline and oils, sometimes I get caught by the beauty before I remember.
The streets of my city as well as paths and walk ways are covered with stains from peoples mucous and salive along with a fresh batch on the ground. The dirt is hard and splits open like pavement, sometimes the color resembles the pavement more than dirt. Plants rarely grow on their own and grass is almost non-existent in the middle of the city. The only flowers breaking through the earth are the ones placed their by village workers who get shipped in in their rags to renovate the city over night or pennies. These flowers are grown in large greenhouses outside of the cities where they are sheltered from the real air and layers of silt. The layers of silt that I wash of my desk or even my cellphone every morning.
I wake up each morning entirely healthy to fits of coughing as I try to clear my throat of whatever has settled in it over night and clean the gunk out of my eyes with saline solution.
Yes, I live in a very small almost unheard of city in Hebei -one of the most polluted provinces in China. So my day to day experiences are not those that are typically going to leave the country. Big cities in China are surprisingly cleaner. I know this is a foreign notion to an American. To me I think the smaller the population, the smaller the area of the city, the cleaner it is! But no, not in China. People are so densely populated in China that even small cities are at risk for high pollution, in fact they are more at risk because people don't care about them. The leaders of Beijing were rightfully upset when a light was shown on their city for their pollution levels because the Beijing government works tirelessly to keep pollution down in the city. The public transportation is wonderful, the regulations are strict, and the companies are more compliant than one would expect of Chinese companies. So why is the pollution in Beijing worse than in almost the rest of the world? Because of the province I live in and other similar provinces near Beijing. Unfortunately the pollution from dirty, basically unregulated, completely uncompliant plants travels over land to nearby locations, making what should be an unpolluted city completely disgusting.
Living in China is to battle with nature. The weather warning says almost every day that the toxin levels in the air are so high it does not recommend going out doors if it can be avoided especially the young, elderly, and sick. It recommends not doing heavey exercise out doors and specialists say that just living in China has the same impact on your health -especially your lungs - as smoking a few cigarets a week, and I don't think that includes the second-hand smoke from every activity including stroles in the park. One can't drink the water from the faucet and restaurants serve boiling water to customers to make them feel safe, which means that ice is viewed similar to caner. Though your first reaction when you have a wound is to wash it out there is nothing more dangerous than doing this. Doctors advise their patients not to shower when undergoing treatments, which sadly isn't crazy Chinese thinking, but is common sense when your water could have been the thing that infected you in the first place. And finally, the food is not just very heavy and tough on the stomach but it can be filled with so many microbial that I'm convinced a Chinese person could never get food poisoning in America.
There is a layer of oil on most water ways because of the excessive use of oil in Chinese cooking and the abundance of food carts which dump their food waste in the streets. The water in my city reminds me more of blue toilet-bowl water mixed with milky laundry detergent with an excessive algae bloom in it, though algae could never survive in it. The water looks thick, dyed and dirty and it's common to see dead animals floating among the layer of garbage along the surface. The water sparkels when you hit it at just the right angel with the colors of a prism from the sun bouncing of the gasoline and oils, sometimes I get caught by the beauty before I remember.
The streets of my city as well as paths and walk ways are covered with stains from peoples mucous and salive along with a fresh batch on the ground. The dirt is hard and splits open like pavement, sometimes the color resembles the pavement more than dirt. Plants rarely grow on their own and grass is almost non-existent in the middle of the city. The only flowers breaking through the earth are the ones placed their by village workers who get shipped in in their rags to renovate the city over night or pennies. These flowers are grown in large greenhouses outside of the cities where they are sheltered from the real air and layers of silt. The layers of silt that I wash of my desk or even my cellphone every morning.
I wake up each morning entirely healthy to fits of coughing as I try to clear my throat of whatever has settled in it over night and clean the gunk out of my eyes with saline solution.
Yes, I live in a very small almost unheard of city in Hebei -one of the most polluted provinces in China. So my day to day experiences are not those that are typically going to leave the country. Big cities in China are surprisingly cleaner. I know this is a foreign notion to an American. To me I think the smaller the population, the smaller the area of the city, the cleaner it is! But no, not in China. People are so densely populated in China that even small cities are at risk for high pollution, in fact they are more at risk because people don't care about them. The leaders of Beijing were rightfully upset when a light was shown on their city for their pollution levels because the Beijing government works tirelessly to keep pollution down in the city. The public transportation is wonderful, the regulations are strict, and the companies are more compliant than one would expect of Chinese companies. So why is the pollution in Beijing worse than in almost the rest of the world? Because of the province I live in and other similar provinces near Beijing. Unfortunately the pollution from dirty, basically unregulated, completely uncompliant plants travels over land to nearby locations, making what should be an unpolluted city completely disgusting.
Living in China is to battle with nature. The weather warning says almost every day that the toxin levels in the air are so high it does not recommend going out doors if it can be avoided especially the young, elderly, and sick. It recommends not doing heavey exercise out doors and specialists say that just living in China has the same impact on your health -especially your lungs - as smoking a few cigarets a week, and I don't think that includes the second-hand smoke from every activity including stroles in the park. One can't drink the water from the faucet and restaurants serve boiling water to customers to make them feel safe, which means that ice is viewed similar to caner. Though your first reaction when you have a wound is to wash it out there is nothing more dangerous than doing this. Doctors advise their patients not to shower when undergoing treatments, which sadly isn't crazy Chinese thinking, but is common sense when your water could have been the thing that infected you in the first place. And finally, the food is not just very heavy and tough on the stomach but it can be filled with so many microbial that I'm convinced a Chinese person could never get food poisoning in America.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Hello
Hello, to an unknowing foreigner might appear to be the Chinese people's favorite word because the excessive amount of times foreigners here it in a day. Though the laughter that generally follows the word might hint at the point of which it is being said. The Chinese people truly have a lack of understanding about how truly rude it is to a) assume every white person is American and can speak English and b) point out another person's heterogeneity.
We all know that children say and do very politically inappropriate things. I remember taking my neighbor's child to get ice-cream one summer and having her loudly ask "What's that?" about the prosthetic leg of the man in front of us. The story from a friend's mother telling me about her son's childhood obsession with midgets whom he referred to as "little guys." How he would point out midgets when ever he saw one. Or even myself, I've seen parents quickly hush their son or daughter when they point to my amputated finger and asks "What happened?" We teach our children young that it's impolite to point out a person just because they're different. I used to see this process as life but now I see it as culture, a part of my own culture I really appreciate.
In China instead of the parents cringing as their son or daughter points to the 外国人(waiguoren) or foreigner it's the parents tapping on their children's shoulders, pointing their faces in my direction, and saying it. Though "waiguoren" translates to foreigner it also means outsider, stranger, or even alien. Though the term is generally not meant to hurt it really is unfair. Though in America we are trained as children to accept everyone no matter how different they are as one of us in China young children are taught to look for difference and literally point it out. That's why, as I walk down the street each day I have to deal with people openly staring at me, pointing at me, and holding conversations right infront of me - about me. Sure, when you're in a foreign country it can be nice for people to notice your foreign and point you in the right direction but the truth is that most people are more willing to speculate about me than talk to me.
How do you respond? When you walk by a person who shouts out a distinctly Chinese "Hhhhhey-low" with a not to distant laughter. I cringe. They never had a parent to cringe for them and teach them that diversity is not something to point out or something to laugh about but that it's just part of life. But try telling that to a short, skinny, dark hair, dark eyed Chinese child who looks more or less like the other million people in China. That's what you're thinking isn't it? China is so homogenous, how can they understand diversity? But that's not it. Even in a sea of similarity Chinese people are albe to pick out the differences in one another. Women die their hair so it's a slightly lighter shade than other's. People wear very unique clothing to stand and of course you'd never want to be fat in China because that's the biggest difference of all. Slightly rounder faces belong to "village girls" as well as rosy cheeks. Where stalkier Chinese are "definitely from the south" and the tall ones "must be from the north." The markers go on and on including how oily your skin is, how many pimples you have, how wide your eyes open, and so on. It's honestly amazing that Chinese people see any similarities within themselves.
Though when I first got to China I had mostly pleasant responses - I would look and smile, now I do nothing. I keep walking and act like nothing has happened. My insides flare with my disgust and I try to suppress the urge to swear at them even though most of them don't grant me the same courtesy. Yes, it seams amazing that something like not responding to someone being rude, impolite, or even making fun of you can lead to their anger but in China that's normal. In my first week of being in China I was yelled an sworn at for turning my head away when someone tried to take a picture of me. Sometimes the response to me ducking photos is a more polite shy smile but often it's a very obnoxious giggle or full throttled conversation about the "waiguoren."
In many ways I feel like when children come up to me with a "Hello, how are you?"- one of the few phrases they learn in English- I should respond but in my head I sometimes think "then how will they learn?" How are these little kids - who mean no harm - supposed to grow up in to adults who don't think making fun of waiguoren is a fun pass time unless you don't acknowledge them? I'll smile at children and I'll wave. I make a lot of funny faces at kids in public - though mostly for self motivated reasons (to get them to stop crying). Many people say that being white in China is like being an ambassador. And I do want people to think well of foreigners, I do want to make a good impression but I don't think letting myself be made fun of is how I can accomplish this.
We all know that children say and do very politically inappropriate things. I remember taking my neighbor's child to get ice-cream one summer and having her loudly ask "What's that?" about the prosthetic leg of the man in front of us. The story from a friend's mother telling me about her son's childhood obsession with midgets whom he referred to as "little guys." How he would point out midgets when ever he saw one. Or even myself, I've seen parents quickly hush their son or daughter when they point to my amputated finger and asks "What happened?" We teach our children young that it's impolite to point out a person just because they're different. I used to see this process as life but now I see it as culture, a part of my own culture I really appreciate.
In China instead of the parents cringing as their son or daughter points to the 外国人(waiguoren) or foreigner it's the parents tapping on their children's shoulders, pointing their faces in my direction, and saying it. Though "waiguoren" translates to foreigner it also means outsider, stranger, or even alien. Though the term is generally not meant to hurt it really is unfair. Though in America we are trained as children to accept everyone no matter how different they are as one of us in China young children are taught to look for difference and literally point it out. That's why, as I walk down the street each day I have to deal with people openly staring at me, pointing at me, and holding conversations right infront of me - about me. Sure, when you're in a foreign country it can be nice for people to notice your foreign and point you in the right direction but the truth is that most people are more willing to speculate about me than talk to me.
How do you respond? When you walk by a person who shouts out a distinctly Chinese "Hhhhhey-low" with a not to distant laughter. I cringe. They never had a parent to cringe for them and teach them that diversity is not something to point out or something to laugh about but that it's just part of life. But try telling that to a short, skinny, dark hair, dark eyed Chinese child who looks more or less like the other million people in China. That's what you're thinking isn't it? China is so homogenous, how can they understand diversity? But that's not it. Even in a sea of similarity Chinese people are albe to pick out the differences in one another. Women die their hair so it's a slightly lighter shade than other's. People wear very unique clothing to stand and of course you'd never want to be fat in China because that's the biggest difference of all. Slightly rounder faces belong to "village girls" as well as rosy cheeks. Where stalkier Chinese are "definitely from the south" and the tall ones "must be from the north." The markers go on and on including how oily your skin is, how many pimples you have, how wide your eyes open, and so on. It's honestly amazing that Chinese people see any similarities within themselves.
Though when I first got to China I had mostly pleasant responses - I would look and smile, now I do nothing. I keep walking and act like nothing has happened. My insides flare with my disgust and I try to suppress the urge to swear at them even though most of them don't grant me the same courtesy. Yes, it seams amazing that something like not responding to someone being rude, impolite, or even making fun of you can lead to their anger but in China that's normal. In my first week of being in China I was yelled an sworn at for turning my head away when someone tried to take a picture of me. Sometimes the response to me ducking photos is a more polite shy smile but often it's a very obnoxious giggle or full throttled conversation about the "waiguoren."
In many ways I feel like when children come up to me with a "Hello, how are you?"- one of the few phrases they learn in English- I should respond but in my head I sometimes think "then how will they learn?" How are these little kids - who mean no harm - supposed to grow up in to adults who don't think making fun of waiguoren is a fun pass time unless you don't acknowledge them? I'll smile at children and I'll wave. I make a lot of funny faces at kids in public - though mostly for self motivated reasons (to get them to stop crying). Many people say that being white in China is like being an ambassador. And I do want people to think well of foreigners, I do want to make a good impression but I don't think letting myself be made fun of is how I can accomplish this.
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