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Absolutely the most childish, brain-melting, and passive-aggressive act that I've encountered numerous times is abruptly logging off or going invisible on QQ during a discussion. This never fails to induce within me a profound sympathetic embarrassment for them.
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Feb 11, 2014 08:02
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caberham posted:Seriously? Take a deep breath, mate. I don't think commenting on the way people drive in China, the fact that I have been totally hundreds of times by Chinese people that cold beer destroys mystomach or things like this, and then a Chinese friend or two that has lived abroad telling me "Yeah, I know, but it is just our culture!" is a huge deal. Maybe saying "Chinese people" in my post is what bothered you, when I meant more about the culture? Of course I don't think every person from China does something the exact same way. Of course no one represents all of the Chinese people, but it can certainly represent the culture OF the people, which is what I thought we were talking about? I understand there is a difference between assholes who just happen to be Chinese and assholeish aspects of culture over here. It is a capitalist society, of course there are going to be assholes. That doesn't make it just a Chinese thing...but there are a large amount of aspects of this culture that need to change if China is going to be successful on a global scale and the idea of face is holding it back, so you get the hands over the ears with the la la la la la la going on a lot. That is what I was going for.
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Feb 11, 2014 08:11
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Instead of being a Misanthrope and hating on society, you should just hate yourself for your personal failures.
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caberham posted:Seriously? What...?  Come on Caberman, this is a bit rough, eh? Where is your usual 
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Feb 11, 2014 08:18
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I've managed to crack the face code. I was chilling at a friend's coffee shop with some other buddies when she started feeding her 2 month old puppy bone scraps from our recent big-plate chicken dinner. Fearing for the puppies welfare, I sternly explained to her just how dangerous it was for a puppy to be eating chicken bones. In a bid to save his wife some face, her husband chimes in with "but Chinese dogs can eat bones. Don't worry." I feel bad for not handling myself better, for losing my poo poo and scolding her publicly and generally being a dick, rather than pulling her aside and calmly explaining myself. When I got home I started getting guilt-tripped by my girlfriend about how I caused our mutual friend to lose face. But I refused to feel guilt for making her lose face on account of how the maintenance of face appears to excuse her willful ignorance. I've witnessed my Chinese neighbors neglecting their animals on a daily basis and have lacked the spine to say anything. Last night, in my guilt, I finally understood Chinese ignorance; Chinese people don't dare correct each other for fear of causing someone to lose face whereas they would then lose face themselves. It's spineless, self-perpetuating ignorance and accounts for so much of the BS we encounter. It all makes sense now.
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Feb 11, 2014 08:29
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Here's a ridiculous face story from a few weeks ago. I am helping coach/train a basketball team of guy that work at a bank. One of my best Chinese friends, who lived in Canada for 8 years, works at this bank and he helps train/play with them as well. I refereed and coached a little basketball back in the States, but I'm not like an all-knowing genius of it, but I can at least line-up people for drills. These are all bank employees, so they are guys in their late 20s to mid 30s. Everyone can probably see coming that these drills failed rather quickly, and we went to scrimmaging. First of all, in the first game, a guy took five steps with the ball. He practically danced with the ball, like a ridiculous spin move. I called a travel. My Chinese friend told me "Don't call a travel, he will lose face. Especially if the foreigner calls the travel." Uhm. Ok. Nevermind this bank team is 0-5 and the scores of these games are like 8-4. No, continue on with the travel, no problem. Later in the game, a guy was dribbling the ball, dribbled out of bounds, and then stopped. I told him he was out of bounds. His response was "Oh, I didn't know." Well, I'm sure you didn't run out of bounds on purpose, buddy. But there you are, standing out of bounds, holding the ball. This led to some debate on what to do. Everyone decided he should get to throw the ball in from there to restart the game. I am sure glad no one lost any face! What was the final score? Who knows, but I was told at the end the Chinese team beat the team with the foreigner, so I'm sure everyone gained some national face there.  These aren't seven year olds. These are grown men, men that on a daily basis operate motor vehicles. John Wooden must be rolling over in his grave. I bring up motor vehicles because on my way home from the gym, our taxi driver cut off a guy from Beijing, wouldn't let him back in, the guy pulled up at a light next to us, they got out, screamed at each other, did a whole bunch of finger pointing, then got back into their cars, with their face in tact. When my Chinese buddy met up with me the next day, and I told him all this, he gave the response that caberham will shudder to hear "It's just Chinese culture buddy." I told him I probably can't help coach basketball in this culture, and he said "I understand" so now I just spend longer at the gym than getting my weekly basketball work out with these guys. :[ My roommate and I have a big "face story" thing that we've put together over the past few years, it's hilarious to look back at but when you're dealing with it at the time it is maddening.
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Feb 11, 2014 08:40
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Woodsy Owl posted:I've managed to crack the face code. I honestly wonder sometimes what kind of hell it must be like to live trapped in that suppressive labyrinth of outright bullshit. It's gotta be mentally taxing as hell. I'd lose my goddamn mind. One of the greatest things I ever saw in this country was our office accountant decide she wasn't going to loving take it anymore. Someone above her shoveled a mistake they'd made down onto her and expected her to just eat it so that life could continue smoothly gliding along. Well, it turned out homegirl just was not up for eating someone's bullshit that day, and she ended up smashing a phone to pieces while screaming at the offender until he slunk away...and then she followed him into his office and screamed a bit more. During this outburst, everyone else in the office pretended absolutely nothing was happening. Faces glued to computer screens, the whole nine yards. I, of course, watched the whole thing with fascination and had to resist the urge to golf clap for the lady. goldboilermark posted:I bring up motor vehicles because on my way home from the gym, our taxi driver cut off a guy from Beijing, wouldn't let him back in, the guy pulled up at a light next to us, they got out, screamed at each other, did a whole bunch of finger pointing, then got back into their cars, with their face in tact. The guy from Beijing was probably our boss. When he got down here for Spring Festival -- having driven all the way from Beijing -- he was still vibrating with road rage even after getting a full night's sleep following his arrival. blinkyzero fucked around with this message at 08:48 on Feb 11, 2014 |
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Feb 11, 2014 08:44
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Hot water anyone?
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Feb 11, 2014 08:51
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blinkyzero posted:One of the greatest things I ever saw in this country was our office accountant decide she wasn't going to loving take it anymore. Someone above her shoveled a mistake they'd made down onto her and expected her to just eat it so that life could continue smoothly gliding along. Well, it turned out homegirl just was not up for eating someone's bullshit that day, and she ended up smashing a phone to pieces while screaming at the offender until he slunk away...and then she followed him into his office and screamed a bit more. During this outburst, everyone else in the office pretended absolutely nothing was happening. Faces glued to computer screens, the whole nine yards. I, of course, watched the whole thing with fascination and had to resist the urge to golf clap for the lady. it was so loud I could hear something going on from my class, three lecture halls away. When I came back to our little cubicle and asked Blinky what happened, he mouthed "shut up! no!" and made hand gestures that I should pretend to be super-into my laptop. Two minutes later we hear an epic scream, followed by a slapping sound (all coming from out dept head's office). Then more yelling, but our FAO came over and was like "ah, free day! enjoy sunshine!" and had us leave. The next morning I came in at like 7 to write, and when I looked at the accountant's desk it had a pile of phone parts on it. At 8:00 a group of salaryman from out office came in and tried to put it back together. When the accountant rolled in at 11 she tried to make a call while the office sat in fearful silence; after a minute or so she yelled out "ugh, stupid korean poo poo! Always breaks for no reason!" and the salary guys pulled out a new phone for her.
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Feb 11, 2014 08:52
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kru posted:Hot water anyone? Hot water I can actually understand, because kids have been drinking for literally their entire lifetime until they are adults, so their body actually is accustomed to it. It's not addicting, but it is like how my girlfriend takes her temperature every morning. It's just what they are used to. Now when someone tells me I will get sick if I don't drink hot water, I calmly explain to them that I don't drink hot water in the United States or in the UK and that I have not been drinking hot water since I was a young child, so my body actually doesn't really like hot water. This always perplexes the person before they say something like "But you are in China!" or "Oh so you are not Chinese, so you don't like it?" FearCotton posted:When the accountant rolled in at 11 she tried to make a call while the office sat in fearful silence; after a minute or so she yelled out "ugh, stupid korean poo poo! Always breaks for no reason!" and the salary guys pulled out a new phone for her. lol
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Feb 11, 2014 08:56
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blinkyzero posted:I honestly wonder sometimes what kind of hell it must be like to live trapped in that suppressive labyrinth of outright bullshit. It's gotta be mentally taxing as hell. I'd lose my goddamn mind. The seemingly mandatory social retardation eats at my patience daily, I can't fathom being inside the labyrinth. But hey, monkey see monkey do, right? It doesn't bode well for children when every single adult in the country acts like a preteen. I have a difficult time taking anything seriously in this country. I can't separate from the mental image of primary school children playing adult. Stern policemen? Hilarious. Wedding ceremonies? Hilarious. Speeches from "authority figures?" Hilarious. Serious newscasters? Hilarious. PLA choir waxing patriotic? Hilarious. I often find myself considering whether or not I'm being hyperbolic when I talk about China. Upon reflection, it's nearly always warranted. Woodsy Owl fucked around with this message at 09:02 on Feb 11, 2014 |
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Feb 11, 2014 08:56
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People in the USA are ascared of China.
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Feb 11, 2014 09:15
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synertia posted:People in the USA are ascared of China. Their naivety is adorable  edit: Actually, fighting off 30 frenzied 8 year olds is a scary notion. Woodsy Owl fucked around with this message at 09:35 on Feb 11, 2014 |
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Feb 11, 2014 09:32
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What is the deal with the departure card that they give you when you enter mainland China? I'm currently travelling a bit. In Shanghai right now, going to Guangzhou tomorrow, and then to Hong Kong on the 19th. Unfortunately, I completely forgot that little yellow card they give you in the airport when you enter the country; it's still in Shijiazhuang. Do I need it to get from Hong Kong to the mainland?
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Feb 11, 2014 09:42
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I found this interesting given some of the current discussion. And because the underwear discussion a few pages back I was look for images of the fluorescent long underwear that was state issued in 1986. Everyone was wearing Mao suits and showing bright pink or green fluorescent underwear at the cuffs. I couldn't find any images and so I will eventually have to raid my storage for my own pics from that time. Instead I found this which I will post for no particular reason. 
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Feb 11, 2014 09:50
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New Coke posted:What is the deal with the departure card that they give you when you enter mainland China? I'm currently travelling a bit. In Shanghai right now, going to Guangzhou tomorrow, and then to Hong Kong on the 19th. Unfortunately, I completely forgot that little yellow card they give you in the airport when you enter the country; it's still in Shijiazhuang. Do I need it to get from Hong Kong to the mainland? Do you mean the thing that was attached to the arrival card? You can get those at any airport security counter, I'm pretty sure you can toss it in the garbage with zero consequences and grab a new one when you leave.
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Feb 11, 2014 09:53
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New Coke posted:What is the deal with the departure card that they give you when you enter mainland China? I'm currently travelling a bit. In Shanghai right now, going to Guangzhou tomorrow, and then to Hong Kong on the 19th. Unfortunately, I completely forgot that little yellow card they give you in the airport when you enter the country; it's still in Shijiazhuang. Do I need it to get from Hong Kong to the mainland? You can get a new departure card at any airport. Don't worry about it.
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Feb 11, 2014 09:55
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Sogol posted:I found this interesting given some of the current discussion. China? Courteous, amiable, accommodating, and compromising? What China is this?
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Feb 11, 2014 10:49
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Woodsy Owl posted:China? Courteous, amiable, accommodating, and compromising? What China is this? It is their culture, please respect it
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Feb 11, 2014 10:54
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Woodsy Owl posted:The seemingly mandatory social retardation eats at my patience daily, I can't fathom being inside the labyrinth. But hey, monkey see monkey do, right? It doesn't bode well for children when every single adult in the country acts like a preteen. I have a difficult time taking anything seriously in this country. I can't separate from the mental image of primary school children playing adult. Stern policemen? Hilarious. Wedding ceremonies? Hilarious. Speeches from "authority figures?" Hilarious. Serious newscasters? Hilarious. PLA choir waxing patriotic? Hilarious. Reported for racism.
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Feb 11, 2014 12:36
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Sogol posted:I found this interesting given some of the current discussion. Translation: Reactions to bad news. Blue: Passive Aggressive, Sarcastic Yellow: Arrogant, Dismissive, Red: Angry, Shouty
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Feb 11, 2014 12:51
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Woodsy Owl posted:The seemingly mandatory social retardation eats at my patience daily, I can't fathom being inside the labyrinth. But hey, monkey see monkey do, right? It doesn't bode well for children when every single adult in the country acts like a preteen. I have a difficult time taking anything seriously in this country. I can't separate from the mental image of primary school children playing adult. Stern policemen? Hilarious. Wedding ceremonies? Hilarious. Speeches from "authority figures?" Hilarious. Serious newscasters? Hilarious. PLA choir waxing patriotic? Hilarious. Face, and acting a way because your position requires you to act that way. Appearancematters more than the actuality of it; people go through the motions even if their heart isn't in it or they don't have the ability or moral authority to back it up. It isn't uniquely Chinese. See: George W. Bush trying to act presidential, or any Sarah Palin-type teabagger. goldboilermark posted:Hot water I can actually understand, because kids have been drinking for literally their entire lifetime until they are adults, so their body actually is accustomed to it. It's not addicting, but it is like how my girlfriend takes her temperature every morning. It's just what they are used to. If you drink cold water, you won't get sick. If you drink cold CHINESE water you will. Or rather, if you drink tap water that you haven't boiled you might get sick. No one trusts it, and this probably isn't a new state of affairs. If your water is warm you at least know that heat was applied, maybe it was even boiled. This in a society where you can graduate high school or even college without even a rudimentary grasp of germ theory and where hot is actually an indicator of safety, it makes perfect sense that people would think that it is the fact that the water is hot that makes it safe.
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Feb 11, 2014 13:01
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caberham posted:Seriously? Just revisited this with my roommate and his literal reaction was  Good old day recaps with roommates lol The Great Autismo! fucked around with this message at 13:29 on Feb 11, 2014 |
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Feb 11, 2014 13:26
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goldboilermark posted:Just revisited this with my roommate and his literal reaction was What did he say about this post: Woodsy Owl posted:The seemingly mandatory social retardation eats at my patience daily, I can't fathom being inside the labyrinth. But hey, monkey see monkey do, right? It doesn't bode well for children when every single adult in the country acts like a preteen. I have a difficult time taking anything seriously in this country. I can't separate from the mental image of primary school children playing adult. Stern policemen? Hilarious. Wedding ceremonies? Hilarious. Speeches from "authority figures?" Hilarious. Serious newscasters? Hilarious. PLA choir waxing patriotic? Hilarious.
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Feb 11, 2014 13:29
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VideoTapir posted:Face, and acting a way because your position requires you to act that way. Appearancematters more than the actuality of it; people go through the motions even if their heart isn't in it or they don't have the ability or moral authority to back it up. Also this is another aspect that I have never thought about with warm water just because I never boil water. Good point.
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Feb 11, 2014 13:31
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MeramJert posted:What did he say about this post: I think he is much more interested in wild reactions than passing thoughts tbqh I just read it outloud and he did another My roommate is TWM's old roommate and my co-worker, he is p cool and told me I was not a racist so I will sleep well woot The Great Autismo! fucked around with this message at 13:35 on Feb 11, 2014 |
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Feb 11, 2014 13:32
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I am going to buy him an account tomorrow, he has literally been hearing about this for like a year, he will love it. He will come post tomorrow, hooray my roommate!!!!
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Feb 11, 2014 13:37
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Finally, we can get dirt on Goldboilermark's personal hygiene habits!
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Feb 11, 2014 13:40
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synertia posted:People in the USA are ascared of China. I'm personally fascinated, though I haven't visited yet. It sounds like the US but without a few decades of infrastructure/education regarding basic issues. So basically the US of the 1920s or so. e: I mean the water thing makes total sense if you look at it from a germ perspective; even if I knew the germ theory I'd probably boil all of my water first too.
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Feb 11, 2014 13:54
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computer parts posted:So basically the US of the 1920s or so. We'll the current high fashion look for women is "eating disorder with fringe".
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Feb 11, 2014 14:51
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goldboilermark posted:Here's a ridiculous face story from a few weeks ago. The first dog I had as a kid died because my mom fed it a chicken bone. It splintered and a shard cut a hole in his stomach. He was an American dog though, so it's expected.
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Feb 11, 2014 15:53
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computer parts posted:I'm personally fascinated, though I haven't visited yet. It sounds like the US but without a few decades of infrastructure/education regarding basic issues. The water thing is taken to an extreme though. People believe it's a magical cure all and it has more to do with traditional Chinese medicine, yang levels, and Mao era propaganda. Chinese doctors only go to school for 4 years too and the college system is terrible so not much is done to revise this. A major health official in China recently commented on getting air purifiers for classrooms with the rebuttal, "It's a double edged sword because you have to leave the windows closed for the filters to work and that will increase viruses." The school nurse informed a teacher with the flu that he needed to cut up an onion into four pieces, place them in metal bowls of water, put each in the four corners of his room, and the flu should be gone in no time. Another coworker's hurt arm was from the ac blowing cold air on it and if he sits elsewhere, it will go away. She wanted me to take generic antibiotics for a mild case of food poisoning. She also refuses to let anyone stay in the room when the printer is used and opens all the windows because the fumes are highly toxic and will kill you. This is a woman with a medical degree by the way, not just a volunteer like a US school nurse. The favorite China-ism/Asian-ism on campus right now is, "It's snowing, heat's on, open the windows." I try to stay positive about China but it's insane sometimes here and you honestly have to vent about it because it has no valid reason to be happening. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Feb 11, 2014 |
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Feb 11, 2014 16:34
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The loving dipshit who opens the bus window when the A/C is on in the peak of Chongqing summer is one of the biggest reasons I don't think I could live in China for more than a year at at ime.
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Feb 11, 2014 16:36
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Re: Cabraham When I say Chinese culture puts a price on everything, I'm specifically talking about stuff like "if I kill you I can give your family money and not go to jail" which is a real thing and commonplace in modern China, deeply rooted in history, etc. I'm not saying it's bad - the reason we cannot have things like this in the USA is because our legal system doesn't even give your ownership of your own life, technically (actually it's quite complicated - you kind of half-belong to the state and half-yourself, your earthly remains reverting to the state upon death). But the way Chinese courts work, there is a method of determining exactly how much your life is worth, based on things like your education, salary, future anticipated earnings, etc. And provided you avoid being made an example of, you can run someone over while drunk driving and stay out of jail by paying off the family. In the US, this is illegal - your family can seek damages in civil court but the state prosecutes the death as a crime against the state, essentially. It is not up to your relatives whether or not criminal charges are pressed. A woman even successfully sued for the fraudulent loss of her virginity - albeit she was awarded a rather low amount - as that would influence her marriageability and bride price. So yeah, China does put a price on everything - it is how the law seems to work here, at least in practice. I'm not saying that's bad, or that Chinese people are obsessed with or only care about money. In some ways, it makes society run more smoothly. I'm just saying it is a thing that is real, and trying to get my in-laws (from Henan) to understand our moral objection to bride price was kind of difficult. Nuff said.
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Feb 11, 2014 17:05
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Printers should be well-ventilated, though. I mean, multifunctionals being used a lot, not your regular desk printer.
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Feb 11, 2014 17:13
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So what is the official price of a Chinese girl's virginity?
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Feb 11, 2014 17:42
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bad day posted:- the reason we cannot have things like this in the USA is because our legal system doesn't even give your ownership of your own life, technically (actually it's quite complicated - you kind of half-belong to the state and half-yourself, your earthly remains reverting to the state upon death). You have never heard of civil claims court, actuaries, corporate-owned life insurance policies, or the affluenza case? Mary Jo Kopechne? Rich people live by a different set of rules everywhere. America is no exception. I'm sure China has laws on the books against a lot of those things as well.
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Feb 11, 2014 17:59
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I hope I'm worth a lot.
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Feb 11, 2014 18:06
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systran posted:The loving dipshit who opens the bus window when the A/C is on in the peak of Chongqing summer is one of the biggest reasons I don't think I could live in China for more than a year at at ime.
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Feb 11, 2014 18:26
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Oracle posted:HAHAHAHAHAHA what? F. Scott Fitzgerald posted:Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.
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Feb 11, 2014 19:47
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Looks like I'm set to interview for the NET registrar next month! Also, how exactly does visa free transit in Hong Kong work? I mean, if you stay for sixty days can you spend a day in Shenzhen and come back for another sixty days?
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Feb 11, 2014 21:19
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