I grew up in the US and recently spend a year and a half living in China.
I lived in a smaller city (actually it was a city of about 6 million people but still considered small for China's standards) and there were very few foreigners living there. I have blonde hair and blue eyes and stood out like a sore thumb. Many of the people in this city had never seen a white person before.
Basically, I would have people constantly staring and pointing at me if I went out in public and yelling "hello!" to me as I walked past. People would ask to take their picture with me on a daily basis, or sometimes they would sneak pictures of me with their phones. It was very strange.
2. The bathrooms. Seriously this was a huge shock. Instead of toilets where you sit down they have a hole in the ground where you squat down to pee, etc. They are usually really gross bc the pee splatters everywhere. They also do not provide toilet paper, so you have to always carry tissues. I have some true horror stories about the toilets in China.
3. There are so many people and no personal space. People crowd you really badly
4. They do not form proper lines. This would drive me crazy. People just bunch together and push and shove their way to the front. Its really frustrating.
5. They spit, like all the time (mainly men). Its really gross, and I don't know how a group of people have that much phlegm in their system. It must be the pollution. We would call it "dodging jellyfish" when we walked down the street bc you had to avoid where you stepped.
6. Little babies and small children do not wear diapers. Instead they wear pants (trousers) with holes in the butt and they just squat down and pee or poop in the street.. or sometimes in the mall.. or on the subway. Its actually pretty cute to see toddlers waddling around with their little butts sticking out of their pants.
7. One of the worst culture shocks: Trying to adjust to their horrible internet that is sooo slow and blocks a majority of western websites (google, facebook, etc.).
8. Pollution. You rarely saw blue sky. I quickly picked up on wearing a surgical mask over my nose and mouth, which is very common in China.
There are actually a lot more but this is really long. It's a very different place.
Although it's a really different culture than the states, I actually had an awesome experience in China. It definitely opens your eyes to a whole different side of the world. I met some really awesome people and it's very safe.
No comments:
Post a Comment