We often hear about the "ugly American" while I know this to be true (I can be one!) I also know that there are some very kind things about Americans. Here is a list of what I miss in the good old U.S. of A:
1. Waiting in lines, taking turns
2. Covering your mouth when you cough
3. Blowing your nose into a kleenex
4. There are no gross hacking, spitting noises.
5. No matter how crazy a driver is in American, no matter how loud they honk and how mean they yell, the driver will always yield to a pedestrian.
6. Personal space when in a crowd
7. Did I mention waiting in lines, cause I would really like people to stop cutting in front of me. I just don't have it in me to cut!
8. Some one saying "no please, go ahead"
These past few weeks I have learned something about my country men. We are kind, we are generous, we are clean. We put others first. We have patience. It many not seem this way, but being here, there is no comprehension of patience. If you want to get on a full elevator, you get on a full elevator. If you want to get a cup of coffee, you walk past 10 people and order a cup of coffee. If you have to go to the bathroom, you walk up to a stall, stand so close to it, that it hits you when it opens and go in, paying no mind to the three year old doing a potty dance back in the "line". So with no disrespect to the Chinese I am going to go home feeling a little prouder of my country.
4 comments:
Are you going to stand in Tiananmen Square and sing God Bless America?
Dad
ah... the beauty of cultural differences and how government, population and history affect what we see is "right." i'd love to see a list like that from a chinese native. enjoy your last few days in gz... and i would NOT recommend singing GBA anywhere in china :o) haha.
AMEN!!!!!!! There were many times that I had a hard time pushing and shoving to get what I wanted but Joy said to go ahead and do it. It is not in our nature to do this I said but they don't seem to mind. The men cutting in front of you just to get off the elevator first and almost knocking you over with a baby was one thing I will never forget. They don't even turn around to say oops or sorry as if it were normal - HA! HA! To them it is to us it is just plain rude. I loved China but I have to agree with you on all of your points. Isn't it nice to be in GZ and be able to walk the streets without looking to get run over by someone or something - HA! HA! ENJOY!!
Hurry home, Sarah. We miss you at work. And I promise to cover my mouth when I cough, use a kleenix, and even let you go first if we both need to use the bathroom at the same time and you are doing a "poddy dance" behind me.
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