“Things in China are not always easy,” as one of my Chinese friends told me after a rough day. When I first came to China it was so new, exciting and different that it was hard for me to point out the things that really separate China from America. Slowly I am starting to realize how different everything is here and it is helping me understand why there is such a break down in communication between people and cultures.
Everything in China is difficult, nothing is easy here. Being a foreigner has a lot to do with it and not speaking mandarin only contributes to this even more. Just going to the store to get groceries is a challenge. If I go to the store in Shin Ling, which is in the campus area, I have to walk 25 minutes to the bus stop at the front gate and then take the very crowded #97 bus to the big store that takes about 15 minutes. The store is very crowded with people bumping into you constantly and there are no imported goods from America. I bring my own grocery bags, since they charge you money for bags, and either take the crammed bus back to the front gate and then walk the 25 minutes back to my apartment or take a gypsy cab. This takes a good 2 hours out of my day.
Now if I want to go downtown to get imported products such as cheese, lunch meat or bacon I must do the same 25 minute walk to the #97 bus and ride that for about 40 minutes to the train station. Then, I take the subway for 15-20 minutes and then walk another 20 minutes to the store. They have a lot of stuff here that I can’t get on campus and I get so excited when I see their one aisle of imports, like pasta and canned corn that I tend to overbuy! It’s not so fun when I have to carry all of it by hand back to campus and am forced to take a taxi to my apartment that takes about 30 minutes. This is a day trip and by the time I get back to my apartment all I want to do is sleep.
Another example of living in China… The other day my curtain broke in my room and I have to call Ryan (who takes care of all our complaints and problems!) who then calls the maintenance crew to come and fix it. This entails me being at my apartment at a certain time for them to come and fix it. So Mr. Fix It came an hour later then scheduled and showed up with a drill in one hand. He basically carved out a hole in my wall to put the curtain rod into and in the process left a big pile of my wall on the floor. He leaves, I clean up and proceed to close the curtain only to have the other side of the curtain rod come out of the wall! So again I call Ryan back and he has to call the man to come back to fix the other side. Anyways, long story short - nothing is easy here! This goes for getting my water delivered to me, to having to refill my internet card every other week, to getting my electricity recharged when it runs out.
I guess growing up in America has made me realize that our lifestyle is much more comfortable, relaxed and easy compared to so much else of the world. I mean I could hop in my car and drive 5 minutes to the grocery store to pick up a gallon of milk at 10 pm. Whereas here, everything has to be planned out and takes time to do. Just living here and trying to keep up with everything is a job in itself and I can’t imagine the people in China that have it sooo much worse then me. People who live in rural China without running water, heat, transportation or washing machines. Like that saying goes, you don’t miss it until it’s gone. And wow do I miss certain things about living in the United States! So all of you reading this, be happy you don’t have to spend 2 hours of your day getting groceries.
8 comments:
I guess this is is an example of "you live & you learn". You're def becoming a world citizen miss Bolling!
Dear Emily,
I like your blog, I think it is very interesting to read about an American's life in China and how she lives at our school, NUPT. But I feel this entry has so many flaws and make you sound petty. Yes, the store is far, but we all have to manage. There are no american goods, true, but I do not think it would be smart for the store to carry import items that only a few people can afford or like here at school. We are sorry if the crowds are big in stores, we all have to suffer with 1 billion people living the area of east coast america. It must be horrible to have such a bad repair man that you can call, when our light breaks in our dormitory, we have to take time off from studies and buy and fix it ourselves. You get water delivered?? Maybe in the next english corner lesson, you can let us think up a more efficient and faster method for Emily to get Cheese. We can ponder about that while we boil drinking water in our 10 square meter room that we share with 3 others.
Sincerely,
Sophomore Student
Dear Anonymous,
This blog is for my friends and family. It is a way for me to communicate to them about my experiences here in China. This particular entry is about one of my experiences being here, which as you can see very different from America. If you get the chance to go to America you will see what I mean, but since I am guessing you haven't, you don't really know how different and difficult it is for an American living in the conditions we are living here. I am stating the way I see things here from my perspective and you do not have to agree. This is my blog where I post things how I see them. From what I have read, you seem to have some hostility about your living conditions as well and like the title of my entry "China = NOT EASY", meaning it is not easy to live here. This is an experience for me living here and my eyes have been opened to what it is like living in a developing 3rd world country. I hope that you can see that this entry and this blog is about the differences I have encountered living here in China. Maybe one day if you get to travel to America (if you haven't already) you will get to experience the differences as I have. You can write a blog and maybe people from America will disagree with your views about their country but that is okay because this is part of the experience!
I think it's great that someone as open minded and intelligent as Emily working in China as well as taken her time to report back home about her everyday life there. This girl is from Alaska, went to college in NY and is now in China!! She knows that many Americans don't know what's going on outside of the US and I think it's great that she's expressing her feelings and experiences so family and friends can get a feeling of what she's going through. I didn't see her post as a complaint about life in China, but a great example of differences between two extremely different countries. I also know that Emily would find similar things to write about if she came to visit me in Scandinavia just like I have many things, good and bad, to write about after living in America for 4 years. Telling stories like this is a great way for everyone to learn about each other!!! Hopefully I'll get the chance to visit Emily in spring and learn more about China, that she speaks so fondly of.
Ok Anonymous,
You said Emily's post had so many flaws...I re-read her post and also your comment and didn't find anything you disagreed with. I have to say, those that know and love Emily know she is anything but petty! By the way, petty is a pretty strong word here in America.
In fact, Emily stated in the first 5 sentences that much of the difficulties are due to foreigner's inability to speak Mandarin. Hmm...she's taking responsibility for her difficulties????
Unless you have traveled outside of your country, well then you have nothing to compare it to, except American movies of course! But because you are not experiencing your country through the eyes of a foreigner, you may not understand the reason for her posting what she did. I do understand and am enjoying the posts. As someone who has traveled extensively, including a year of college in Europe, I can appreciate the little things she is talking about!
So, with that said, I'm still looking for the flaws and the pettiness in her post.
Stop being so Mavericky (look it up) and cut her a break!
Dear Mr. Jones,
Thank you for your comments, I am very excited to have wonderful debates with more Americans. I hope you can share with me your extensive travels. I wish to point out several points of misunderstanding. First thing we need to clear is we love Emily here, she is smart, nice to everyone, tall, good at basketball and have great hair.
Her first part talk about how her experiences in China helped her understand “why there is such a break down in communication between people and cultures.” This made me believe that she is going to write and describe the cultural difference between two vastly different worlds (China and America), and how those differences affect her lifestyle, example: slower lifestyle, rampant bribery to get things done, no hugging.
I, with my limited reading comprehension skills, got these points from her entry…
Buses are crowded
Stores are crowded
No American products in the local supermarket
Plastic bags cost money
Living far from supermarket makes supermarket trips long
You have to go to the downtown to get America imports
Repairmen do not come on time and is stupid
No car = inconvenience
How many of those things are due to cultural differences and lack of communication? How many of those things can you say does not happen in America? I can be wrong, America can be a more perfect place than I ever imagined, and this is an entry for her to vent about how difficult an American lifestyle CAN BE achieved in China.
But if you think I have insulted Ms. Emily with my use of petty, you might take notice that Mavericky is a pretty strong word here in China. We do not like non-conformists here. If you wish to defend her honor then I welcome the challenge. Remember, I’m Chinese, so it’s 50/50 that I’m a karate master… in the words of your great Hollywood actor, do you feel lucky?
I have to sleep so I can work tomorrow in the cafeteria in the mornings. Emily will be waiting for her eggs and tomatoes.
Sincerely,
NUPT '11
Hello Lee,
Well we agree on something.... Emily does have great hair.
Sorry to say, I'm a lover not a fighter, so you will have to find someone else to debate and practice your karate chops on.
As far as defending Emily's honor, she's a big girl and can take care of herself.
I'm sure Emily didn't travel to China to create an American lifestyle. I'm quite sure she is embracing her current experiences, good and bad, and these very experiences will make her an even better person than we already know she is! :)
I'm so sorry to have used the strong word "Mavericky." Use of this word is fairly new around here, and I really only know the word from my Aunt Tina, who uses it frequently when I visit her on Saturday nights. She uses it as a term of endearment for good ole' Uncle John.... So althiugh it is strong in China, here in the USA it is quite affectionate!
So with that said Lee, I throw up the white flag of surrender and only ask that you not burn Emily's eggs.
Dear Anonymous,
You should not be offended by Emily's comments. Because of Emily's blog, I have an improved understanding of the people of China, the challenges you face, your culture, and your country. Isn't understanding, after all, what brings the people of the world closer together?
Emily has indeed made the world a little bit smaller for me, and I envy her courage, fortitude, and sensitivity.
Regards,
Shane
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