Chapters 22-24 Culture

Chapter 22

A Bit on Culture

There are too many things to write about for this. For anyone reading this journal, you will be able to tell some of the culture differences and traditions between China and the US as you are reading. All cultures are different from each other. Each has their own way of doing things and another one can’t understand why others do things the way they do. 

Cultures and traditions are different all over the world. When you go somewhere else, you learn how others do things. It helps us understand other peoples in the world better. Many of the things that China and the US do are opposite of each other.

Some American Customs That Are Considered Offensive In Other Countries

• Not declining gifts. Americans are quick to accept gifts, favors, invitations and often without offering something in return. However, many cultures expect you to decline things a few times before ultimately accepting them. In China, you're even expected to refuse a gift three times before accepting it. In most Asian countries, most notably China, tearing into a gift in front of the gift giver is poor form. It looks greedy.

• Polishing off your meal. To Americans, finishing a meal shows the host how much they enjoyed the meal. In other countries, like China, it signifies that you're still hungry and that they failed to provide you with enough food.

• Blowing your nose. In countries like China, blowing your nose in public is not only rude, but considered repulsive.

• Keeping your shoes on. While you probably think you're doing the world a favor by keeping your socks under wraps, in most Asian and Caribbean cultures it is expected that you take your shoes off when entering someone's home. For this one, I was told that when you take your shoes off and put on the slippers that the people offer you is leaving the world's problems outside. There are many more customs, these are just a few.

Chapter 23

Living in China

I want to point out something. In the US, we have so many freedoms like protesting, freedom of speech, religion, things like that. I was not stopped from going places or doing things in China. It was like living here, there were a couple of exceptions. 

South of Luoyang there are three counties that foreigners were not allowed to go to because there were military bases there. They are in the mountains. That’s understandable. You can't walk into military bases in the US either. Also in Luoyang, is the Missile Institute. There are two missile factories. Luoyang is the biggest producer of missiles in China. I was not allowed to go there either of course. These two areas in the city are about a mile apart. I would walk by them now and then. I would see the people that worked there come and go if they happened to be changing shifts. One of my teacher friend's husband worked there. Their apartment complex was across the road from the work place and I could go to their apartment. Another friend's husband worked in the building that was the Missile Institute Headquarters. I never saw any missiles. Maybe the parts are made in Luoyang and they are sent somewhere else to be assembled. I don't know.

As a foreign teacher, we are not allowed to talk about sex or religion in our classes. They know about Christmas and other holidays that we have. In fact, during December you will see decorations in some stores. You will hear Christmas music being played in both English and Chinese. It is not a celebration like we have for family. They have their own holidays and festivals for that. People know a lot about the Western culture and traditions, weddings, all kinds of things.

Politics-you don’t want to talk against the Chinese Government, as in putting the government down, at least not in public. We have that freedom here in the US under our freedom of speech but not there so much. You can ask questions about things that is ok.

There are protests in China. Those are seen more and more as time goes on. I saw one close to the Number 19 High School.

There are Christian churches in China. There are three of them in Luoyang. They all have crosses on top. The last time I was in Luoyang I lived about four blocks from one. I did not go to any of them, it would have been in the Chinese language. Most of the people that go are more elderly but more and more young people read the Bible and have Bible studies but not so much in public. They do it in their homes or behind closed doors. It is kind of frowned on by the government. I met many people that were Christians because now and then I was asked if I was Christian and I told them I was. Many of the Chinese teachers that have come here are Christians.

Things are changing in China all the time, slowly there are more freedoms over time.

Chapter 24

Being A Foreigner In China

The hardest thing for me to handle in China that first time and even the second time (although it wasn’t as bad as the first time) was being watched all the time. I made it through the first year dealing with everything but after that it was really getting to me. People pointing at me, stopping what they were doing and watching me walk or do whatever it was that I was doing.

If I stopped to tie my shoes, people would watch me. Sometimes when I went to the grocery store, the people next to me would look in my cart at the check-out counter to see what I bought and made fun of me.

One time, I was walking down the street and a lady was on a pay phone talking and the man with her saw me and he grabbed her by the shoulders, turned her around and pointed at me so she wouldn’t miss seeing a foreigner. Another time, I took the bus to aerobics class and when I got off there was a man and woman standing there and he tapped her on the shoulder and pointed at me so she would see me. I’m sure it made her day. The population of Luoyang at that time (2002-2004) was six million people. The majority of people had never seen a foreigner, only on TV and in the movies.

By the way, I should clarify something. When I talk about being watched, I mean by the people on the streets and everywhere, not by the government.

Living in China is not restricting. I could go anywhere and do things except where there were military installations. There were places in three counties south of Luoyang that foreigners are not allowed to go to because of missile bases in the mountains. Same as here in the US, you can’t just walk into a military base here either. Luoyang is the biggest producer of missiles in China, at least in 2003. There are two places in Luoyang for that. I knew where both of them were. I walked by them often. It must be the parts for missiles that they make because I’ve never seen a missile itself in Luoyang.

The one thing the government watches for is foreigners being there illegally. Like having the wrong kind of visa, your visa has expired or something is wrong with your passport. The other thing they don’t allow is a foreigner working at more than one place. Of course, when the Chinese teachers came here to teach they could not have another job either.

For a foreign teacher in China, if you had a contract to teach at a school and you wanted to make more money and you were at another school on the side and were caught, you had two weeks to leave China.

My second year, 2003-2004, I didn’t care to meet anybody new. I just wanted to be with my friends, the people that I had already met from the first year. I had gotten burned out that first year. Most everywhere I went, I was the center of attention. I am from the Midwest and grew up in the country. To be the center of attention was very different.

When I would go to a wedding, I got more attention than the bride. Think about that. Why would someone want to look at a foreigner when there was a beautiful bride there?

One more thing I want to share is about my two colleagues Justin and Mary. Justin’s father is Italian and his mother is Chinese so he has some of the Asian features. He didn’t look like a foreigner. Mary is from the Philippines so she looks like she is one of the Chinese people. The Chinese thought she was a Chinese person until they heard her talk and then they knew she wasn’t. So whenever I was out with either of them, guess who people always looked at. I was the foreigner that stood out and that is why I got all the attention. Everywhere I went, I was the one who was looked at and watched. This is why these things got to me sometimes.