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Meow

Squeeker

Joined: July 29, 2006
Posts: 13
Location: Texas
Status: Offline

Posted: July 30, 2006 - 12:24 PM

You're right, people are talking a lot of smack.

I like what you said about being one of two things: Chinese or NOT. I guess we'll definitely be in the NOT category. That's cool-I'd better start working on my animal instincts and unstable mind.

We're going in a week and I'm just trying to get my mind right. Thanks for the therapy.

YariGuy

LoopKicker

Joined: July 13, 2004
Posts: 874
Location: Puxi
Status: Offline

Posted: July 31, 2006 - 02:08 PM

Meow, I'd appreciate your comparison of Taipei and Shanghai after you've been to both.

Meow

Squeeker

Joined: July 29, 2006
Posts: 13
Location: Texas
Status: Offline

Posted: July 31, 2006 - 11:36 PM

OK, will do. Someone on a Taipei forum told me to carry a stick and watch out for roving packs of wild dogs if we live in Yangmingshan. Nice.

SO, assuming I'll get back in one piece, I'll be glad to let you know...

Acea

Lurker

Joined: Aug 09, 2006
Posts: 28

Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 12, 2006 - 01:11 PM

'where r u really from' might mean ' where's ur root'

Meow

Squeeker

Joined: July 29, 2006
Posts: 13
Location: Texas
Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 12, 2006 - 11:01 PM

I've been here for 4 days now. The only peope who have stared at me are a few men. I guess i could look at that in a positive light. I haven't had any bad experiences at all with regard to feeling like people are staring at me as though I'm some sort of miscreant.

Taipei:
People: very nice, very open.
Place: kind of a "beyond thunderdome" look that was pretty shocking at first.But the mountains help out a lot and the small feeling of Taipei City counts for a lot.

Shanghai:
People: no problems here and the people I've been interacting with have been extremely nice. Seems like i wouldn't have a lot of interaction with locals as long as we have a language barrier because fewer people here speak English as opposed to Taipei.So, so crowded, some people look so tired and forlorn. Big city life or something else?

Place: Hmmm, so many areas that I would consider squalid. I don't know if they are considered that way by people here. Find it kind of hard to take. Looked at many expat communities and was always disappointed and amazed that they are often surrounded by truly awful looking areas. The city looks sophisticated with all of the buildings but seems like it's filled with people who poured in from the countryside. People and the big city look don't seem to match. I find it interesting but stressful and less polished than I thought.I really don't know if I can have my family make a go of it here.My mistake was expecting something along the lines of NYCmy eyes have been opened. I don't know what in the hell to think.

CoffeeHawk_0
Board Buddha

Joined: July 14, 2005
Posts: 14444

Posted: Aug 13, 2006 - 08:36 AM

Quote:

surrounded by truly awful looking areas

i noticed that too and that describes where I live. I'm from the US, I assume you are too. Have you noticed that even though rich and poor live next door to each other, do you also notice there's no violence between them? The view may not be as spectacular due to the low cost apartments, but knowing it's safe and people respect each other's life styles makes the view better.

Macpod

Veejay

Joined: Apr 15, 2006
Posts: 2195

Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 14, 2006 - 08:35 PM

I would have thought most people would just assume you are ABC. dont force them to believe you are 'american', just say you are ABC and they'll understand.

dont take everything literally. wai guo ren is just a name for caucasians. a 20 year old white dude would be called a 'lao wai', old foreigner, literally translated.

dont be bothered by these things. they eventually die out with the old generation

yingying236

Wonder Wit

Joined: Aug 13, 2006
Posts: 3832

Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 16, 2006 - 09:14 AM

why have i never had this problem?

before i even speak ppl can already tell im not "chinese" and ask where im from even though i have a chinese face and when i say england they go "ahhh" and nod.

_________________
I've never done good things, I've never done bad things.

LaVecchiaSignora

SuperStar

Joined: July 24, 2006
Posts: 1531

Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 16, 2006 - 09:22 AM

Cuz you have "I Love England" tattood on your left breast?

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yingying236

Wonder Wit

Joined: Aug 13, 2006
Posts: 3832

Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 16, 2006 - 09:28 AM

yes i do love england... but no tattoo... they are tacky.

_________________
I've never done good things, I've never done bad things.

Macpod

Veejay

Joined: Apr 15, 2006
Posts: 2195

Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 17, 2006 - 05:37 PM

yingying236 wrote:

why have i never had this problem?

before i even speak ppl can already tell im not "chinese" and ask where im from even though i have a chinese face and when i say england they go "ahhh" and nod.

depends on who you meet........

or maybe because you look like a slag Very Happy

OR. they probably just wanted which part of china you come from.

O-R, and this has happened to me- they think you are koream.

yingying236

Wonder Wit

Joined: Aug 13, 2006
Posts: 3832

Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 17, 2006 - 06:18 PM

Macpod wrote:

depends on who you meet........

or maybe because you look like a slag Very Happy

OR. they probably just wanted which part of china you come from.

O-R, and this has happened to me- they think you are koream.

actually come to think of it .. iv been called Korean, Japanese, Malaysian.

I also most likely do look like a slut compared to the girls out there, but i have yet to be asked my hourly rate (either they dont think i look like a hooker or im not desirable lol)

_________________
I've never done good things, I've never done bad things.

man

FooJay

Joined: Mar 30, 2006
Posts: 1788

Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 18, 2006 - 01:38 AM

I like a bargain, so.... how much?

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Meow

Squeeker

Joined: July 29, 2006
Posts: 13
Location: Texas
Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 19, 2006 - 07:18 AM

CoffeeHawk,
Yes, I'm American, grew up in Chicago. Is there a middle-class in Shanghai? If so, I'm missing it. Don't know what to look for. Gotta be honest, I know your point about rich (expats?) and poor (average Chinese?) living near each other with no violence is a warm and fuzzy one but I really would prefer not to see so much squalor. I know this is just where China is at this point. Their skyline-that gets so much publicity-is completely outpacing the populace. I get that. I wonder how long it would take me to get used to it. At this point I think it would be awhile.I do feel safe there, even amidst all of the poverty, just not comfortable. Did you also notice the whole city smells like chitterlings?

CoffeeHawk_0
Board Buddha

Joined: July 14, 2005
Posts: 14444

Posted: Aug 19, 2006 - 08:12 AM

haha, I'm from Chicago too. The middle class here is just developing, but there's not really a re-furbished Oak Park, or an Arlington Heights where you can see it easily. I know some 'middle class' couples here that still choose to live in a 2500 rmb/month apartment even though their gross income is over 250,000 rmb. Everyone is saving feverishly for an apartment and a car. I know what you mean, I just have accepted the surroundings and look at the positive side, which is odd, because I am a pessimist. There's less smells in Pudong than Puxi. If you want a more Palatine/Deer Park/North side environment, have you checked out far east Pudong living?

gombie

Newbie

Joined: Aug 19, 2006
Posts: 1

Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 19, 2006 - 11:13 AM

excuse me, i would just like to ask, when someone asks you where you are from (as in where you was born) you say america, but if someone asks if you are chinese, do you say yes? because heritage and where you come from are two different things, i myself am british born and bred but i am chinese.

im assuming you are just fustrated that people are surpised you are from america (i only find this believable after they found out you spoke chinese)? because ive been to china and hong kong and they believe im from (not am) england(english) they believe me, only because my chinese is poor/patchy

Meow

Squeeker

Joined: July 29, 2006
Posts: 13
Location: Texas
Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 19, 2006 - 11:20 AM

I THINK we saw some places that MAY have been east (Trinity Village?) --I'm guessing-- but I just felt so isolated. You know, like there was just the expatriate compound and then outside of it, it's difficult for me to get around and I don't know the language.

We went to the "countryside" and man, that was just kind of depressing but also interesting as hell. What's the name of that town where Tom Cruise was in MI 3? Anyway, enjoyed that a lot but had to make my peace with eating lunch on a riverboat while a man who lived in the house across from it hawked some big loogies in there and then "rinsed" his mop in it so he could go inside and do some "cleaning". You know how we have Appalachia in the States and other concentrated areas of rural poverty? It seems like all of the Chinese countryside is Appalachia or at least hopes to become Appalachia at some point. I'm not tyrying to sound elitist or naive. It was just such an experience for me there as I saw all of these areas and then ascended to my suite at the Grand Hyatt. Surreal and weird to go back and forth for several days like that. China IS rising but seems like it has a long way to go.

sarahs
Raver
Raver

Joined: July 19, 2005
Posts: 445

Posted: Aug 19, 2006 - 01:00 PM

gombie wrote:

if someone asks if you are chinese, do you say yes? because heritage and where you come from are two different things, i myself am british born and bred but i am chinese.

Locals never ask if I'm chinese (as in from the mainland) cause they can tell I'm not local. When a non-local poses this question, I say my parents are from Taiwan and then let them make their own assumptions.

Quote:

im assuming you are just fustrated that people are surpised you are from america (i only find this believable after they found out you spoke chinese)? because ive been to china and hong kong and they believe im from (not am) england(english) they believe me, only because my chinese is poor/patchy

I only spoke Chinese to locals. From the first few words that come out of my mouth, they can tell I'm not local Chinese and assume I'm some other Asian ethnicity. As a clarification, I don't specifically say 'wo shi mei guo ren' (I"m american), I say " wo shi mei guo lai de (I'm from America). And for some reason, they have difficulty accepting this answer.

But whatever. I guess it's just the way it is.

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"The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough."

Macpod

Veejay

Joined: Apr 15, 2006
Posts: 2195

Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 19, 2006 - 01:48 PM

I dont know what kind of people you guys meet. But there is so many names for people like us. a recent one ive heard is 'sea turtle', which stands for people who have lived overseas but is returning to china to work.

theres so many pop references to ABCs and returning chinese i dont see how anyone who isnt 80yo and from the backwaters having trouble grasping the concept of ABC

StMichael

Ranter

Joined: Feb 19, 2005
Posts: 586
Location: Qibao, Shanghai
Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 20, 2006 - 12:34 PM

"Sea turtle" (海龟) is actually a phonemic pun on "overseas returnees" (海归). They both sound the same in Mandarin Chinese, hence the pun.

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lucyna

Veejay

Joined: Aug 03, 2006
Posts: 2166

Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 21, 2006 - 11:32 AM

I agree with acujerjer Confused

CoffeeHawk_0
Board Buddha

Joined: July 14, 2005
Posts: 14444

Posted: Aug 21, 2006 - 07:03 PM

i agree with Santa Clause

beautiful_mind0905

Board Lord

Joined: June 18, 2006
Posts: 5646

Status: Offline

Posted: Sep 02, 2006 - 02:26 PM

We should never forget where we come from and that includes where our ancestors hail from.

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Women are the ones who maintain the world while men throw it into disarray with their historic brutality.

Macpod

Veejay

Joined: Apr 15, 2006
Posts: 2195

Status: Offline

Posted: Sep 02, 2006 - 02:55 PM

ever heard origin of species? according to your philosophy we should all be vegans because we' be eating our brothers an sisters. a bird/pig/fish embryo actually look nearly identical to humans.

sorry. what you say have some truth to it. im just looking for a fight