Tour groups with matching hats are fun.
So many everyday situations are complicated by the fact that there are so many people, and that there really isn't a culture of standing in lines. I don't know why people from the cold war generation talk about communist countries and how all they do is stand in lines, because I have yet to see a group of people in this country willingly stand in a line on their own. It's gets annoying after a while. After a long day of working, everybody has to fight with everybody else because no one trusts anyone else. To clarify that confusing sentence, take this example. If a group of people are standing in a line, there will be another group of people that come and cut into the line because they don't actually believe that the people standing in line are willingly submitting to a form of order that forces them to submit to being behind somebody else. That being said, I have been trampled by many a old woman moving her way up in line. I don't exactly know what to do when something like that comes up! I mean, I'm supposed to treat older people with respect, at least when I speak to them, but does that mean I let them trample me as they check out at the store? Apparently, yes. Because if I stand stiffly, I will get some crack about me being a young whipper snapper in chinese.
But thats the least of my worries right now, and the least of the Chinese's worries. The Chinese have to worry about the job market right now. My last homework assignment was to talk to a couple of college students about finding a job after graduating. I figured that if I was studying at the harvard of china, even students with degrees in Medieval Chinese Chopstick Carving could find jobs. Apparently, this is not so. It's gotten to the point where if a percentage graduates from a school in a particular major consistently do not find jobs within 3 days, the government will shut down the major completely. Moreover, many a job still have "male applicant only" signs. I thought the job market was rough in the United States, but with such a large population and people willing to move across to country to do jobs even in the service industry, competition in china is beyond rigorous. That feeling of being not so special comes really easily when one lives in a country of 1.3+ billion. I now understand why the Chinese use the word “努力” nu3 li4 to describe a persons ideal work ethic. Nuli means hardworking and there is no easy job that comes in China. One does not have the comfort of being able to fall back on a "fast food" job, there just aren't that many around.
Though, speaking of fast food.
KFC and McDonalds are totally upper class bourgeois places to eat here. Only the rich can afford to eat there, and apparently, its where you go to flaunt your status. Rich families will often get dressed up to go to KFC, McDonalds, or even Pizza hut to enjoy a "Sunday Brunch" or whatever the chinese equivalent is.
Other than having the time to make these observations, I am busily working away. I feel like I'm in high school again. I dont like this idea of having morning and afternoon classes everyday with lots of homework. My brain gets tired, but I guess thats expected because Chinese forces you to use both sides of your brain. I think thats why Chinese people live so long and have such a lower rate of Alzheimer's. Their brains get constant workouts from just speaking. (As i read on the BBC website a while ago), it's because people who speak chinese need to coordinate their left and right sides of the brain in order to match the tones of the words with the ideas of the words. In this way, speaking chinese is like singing a song. Reading characters out loud adds even more activity to the brain. So yes, my brain is tired, but I must 努力学习, or study hard, as the chinese say. There is no shortcut learning here. There is only force of will.
my roommate was coerced into taking a picture with the chinese man. after this, the man took a picture of his son with her.
So many everyday situations are complicated by the fact that there are so many people, and that there really isn't a culture of standing in lines. I don't know why people from the cold war generation talk about communist countries and how all they do is stand in lines, because I have yet to see a group of people in this country willingly stand in a line on their own. It's gets annoying after a while. After a long day of working, everybody has to fight with everybody else because no one trusts anyone else. To clarify that confusing sentence, take this example. If a group of people are standing in a line, there will be another group of people that come and cut into the line because they don't actually believe that the people standing in line are willingly submitting to a form of order that forces them to submit to being behind somebody else. That being said, I have been trampled by many a old woman moving her way up in line. I don't exactly know what to do when something like that comes up! I mean, I'm supposed to treat older people with respect, at least when I speak to them, but does that mean I let them trample me as they check out at the store? Apparently, yes. Because if I stand stiffly, I will get some crack about me being a young whipper snapper in chinese.
But thats the least of my worries right now, and the least of the Chinese's worries. The Chinese have to worry about the job market right now. My last homework assignment was to talk to a couple of college students about finding a job after graduating. I figured that if I was studying at the harvard of china, even students with degrees in Medieval Chinese Chopstick Carving could find jobs. Apparently, this is not so. It's gotten to the point where if a percentage graduates from a school in a particular major consistently do not find jobs within 3 days, the government will shut down the major completely. Moreover, many a job still have "male applicant only" signs. I thought the job market was rough in the United States, but with such a large population and people willing to move across to country to do jobs even in the service industry, competition in china is beyond rigorous. That feeling of being not so special comes really easily when one lives in a country of 1.3+ billion. I now understand why the Chinese use the word “努力” nu3 li4 to describe a persons ideal work ethic. Nuli means hardworking and there is no easy job that comes in China. One does not have the comfort of being able to fall back on a "fast food" job, there just aren't that many around.
Though, speaking of fast food.
KFC and McDonalds are totally upper class bourgeois places to eat here. Only the rich can afford to eat there, and apparently, its where you go to flaunt your status. Rich families will often get dressed up to go to KFC, McDonalds, or even Pizza hut to enjoy a "Sunday Brunch" or whatever the chinese equivalent is.
Other than having the time to make these observations, I am busily working away. I feel like I'm in high school again. I dont like this idea of having morning and afternoon classes everyday with lots of homework. My brain gets tired, but I guess thats expected because Chinese forces you to use both sides of your brain. I think thats why Chinese people live so long and have such a lower rate of Alzheimer's. Their brains get constant workouts from just speaking. (As i read on the BBC website a while ago), it's because people who speak chinese need to coordinate their left and right sides of the brain in order to match the tones of the words with the ideas of the words. In this way, speaking chinese is like singing a song. Reading characters out loud adds even more activity to the brain. So yes, my brain is tired, but I must 努力学习, or study hard, as the chinese say. There is no shortcut learning here. There is only force of will.
1 comment:
amen to the tourist sites.
amen to the "lines," which in morocco do not exist at all- nor do traffic lanes.
amen to you, because you're fantastic. i was thrilled to see you'd posted again. and f, you're studying hard, boy.
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