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fpshangzhou
Joined: 13 Mar 2012
Posts: 280
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 Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2015 10:20 pm Post subject: |
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I have to agree with all the posters here on all their points mentioned. However, it's not limited to the southern part of China. I'm in Hangzhou and same thing here. Although I don't look at my phone much, I'm usually plugged in listening to music as most people don't interact much and my Manderin is pretty choppy at best. Nobody cares to chat anymore. My music is my best friend when outside away from work or home.
The good news is I found my future wife here and we have started a family and that in part keeps me pretty busy. Of course instead of learning Chinese, I have to learn Tagalog since the girl's family is Filipino.
If you don't like where you are, change to another location, but your job sounds pretty good being able to teach AP and non-English classes. I personally would like to find part-time work or a new job teaching Hospitality/Tourism related classes, perhaps next year at one of those local vocational colleges.
Astrotrain, I wouldn't give up so fast on the country. I'd give it a little longer. Again, try Chengdu, as I've heard the people there are quite friendly as opposed to the East & South coast of Mainland. They supposedly also have a thriving expat community to boot. |
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wangdaning
Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 3154
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| Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 3:21 am Post subject: |
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I don't know, I find people here to be quite friendly. I had the same experience in Dongguan, though that was years ago. People definitely are not taken aside by a foreign face, but being polite goes a long way. More than once I have had customers tell clerks that I was the next in line. Horrified clerks scared I will speak English to them. I remember when my wife was in the hospital it took awhile for the people to get that I understood them and could speak to them.
The phone issue is a worldwide issue. I removed all games off of my phone so children would quit asking me to let them play. My son is not allowed to use phones, and won't be until he can explain what Android is. I am thinking of getting him a nokia when he is old enough, not even a year yet. Smartphones are great fun, and building the system and apks is really fun, but they are not good for much after that.
Saying SE Asians are more prone to gadgets is a bit strange. Living here so long, I have actually been dismayed by what people from my home country do. I mean incoming teachers and their usage of devices. |
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RiverMystic
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 1986
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| Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 10:09 am Post subject: |
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| wangdaning wrote: |
Saying SE Asians are more prone to gadgets is a bit strange. Living here so long, I have actually been dismayed by what people from my home country do. I mean incoming teachers and their usage of devices. |
I said East Asian, not SE Asian. And it's hardly a strange observation. Gadget obsession has to be the most notable of all public habits where I live. It is absolutely staggering in proportions. Most people appear unable to sit for more than ten seconds without pulling out their phone. It is definitely more pronounced than where I lived in Australia.
The history of this goes right back to the Japanese and their camera, phone and robot fixations of the last half a decade or so. People here tend to live in abstract space, ungrounded from the environment and each other. This probably has something to do with the very early age at which they are brought into "mental" space via endless hours of education and Chinese language learning. If you enter abstract mental space - such as if you try to calculate how many hours left in the week - you immediately become detached from the body, as awareness moves into abstract conceptual mode. Accessing a screen device does pretty much the same thing. You can try this yourself. It is my observation that East Asian cultures tend to spend more time in such cognitive space. I personally find too much time spent that way disturbing. But each to his own.
My wife and Chinese friends have no trouble with this idea. In fact many change to some degree when they go to live in more hospitable environments, such as Australia, NZ and so on. My Chinese ex-wife also noted that there was much less smart phone usage in Qingdao and Yangshou by the Chinese. These are places with more agreeable environments, and so the Chinese there tend to be more "present." |
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buravirgil
Joined: 23 Jan 2014
Posts: 967
Location: Jiangxi Province, China
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| Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 11:13 am Post subject: |
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| RiverMystic wrote: |
| People here tend to live in abstract space, ungrounded from the environment and each other. This probably has something to do with the very early age at which they are brought into "mental" space via endless hours of education and Chinese language learning. If you enter abstract mental space - such as if you try to calculate how many hours left in the week - you immediately become detached from the body, as awareness moves into abstract conceptual mode. |
Sad.
Citing your wife is analogous to "my black friend" in the States, but having to imagine anyone defer to such baseless and meandering explanations has my pity. One linguistic marker of your rhetoric is its use of "you", often a technique in sales. Did you come from the world of sales, or business? Not to impugn those fields because many business people demonstrate sound reasoning and use references that can be substantiated. |
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RiverMystic
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 1986
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| Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 3:10 pm Post subject: |
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| buravirgil wrote: |
| RiverMystic wrote: |
| People here tend to live in abstract space, ungrounded from the environment and each other. This probably has something to do with the very early age at which they are brought into "mental" space via endless hours of education and Chinese language learning. If you enter abstract mental space - such as if you try to calculate how many hours left in the week - you immediately become detached from the body, as awareness moves into abstract conceptual mode. |
Sad.
Citing your wife is analogous to "my black friend" in the States, but having to imagine anyone defer to such baseless and meandering explanations has my pity. One linguistic marker of your rhetoric is its use of "you", often a technique in sales. Did you come from the world of sales, or business? Not to impugn those fields because many business people demonstrate sound reasoning and use references that can be substantiated. |
No sales background. Just a PhD focusing upon intelligence theory and ways of knowing, contrasting eastern and western perspectives; and twenty years of research, publication, observation and meditation. Add to that numerous workshops with Chinese people and other cultures and centered upon developing mindfulness in an age of IT distraction - many in mainland China and HK.
What about you? And have you ever wondered why you are so angry and prone to projection; or why your first unconscious response to this sentence will be to project shame at the writer? |
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buravirgil
Joined: 23 Jan 2014
Posts: 967
Location: Jiangxi Province, China
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| Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 5:13 pm Post subject: |
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| RiverMystic wrote: |
| No sales background. Just a PhD focusing upon intelligence theory and ways of knowing, contrasting eastern and western perspectives; and twenty years of research, publication, observation and meditation. Add to that numerous workshops with Chinese people and other cultures and centered upon developing mindfulness in an age of IT distraction - many in mainland China and HK. |
Oh dear, where does one begin?
PhD in orientalism maybe. Care to cite any publications? Because the absurd distinctions you attempt to derive by placing mental in quotes and affixing it to the word space, further contrasted to cognitive and abstract conceptual mode are neither substantial or coherent. The illustration of "mental calculation" defines nothing, and "you immediately become detached from the body" is nonsensical. There is neary a single statement made that can be substantiated. And that's an accomplishment. Clinical, in a word. So, with that revelation, I must cease any challenge on this topic.
Be careful out there. |
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astrotrain
Joined: 18 Apr 2013
Posts: 96
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| Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 3:09 am Post subject: |
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| fpshangzhou wrote: |
I have to agree with all the posters here on all their points mentioned. However, it's not limited to the southern part of China. I'm in Hangzhou and same thing here. Although I don't look at my phone much, I'm usually plugged in listening to music as most people don't interact much and my Manderin is pretty choppy at best. Nobody cares to chat anymore. My music is my best friend when outside away from work or home.
The good news is I found my future wife here and we have started a family and that in part keeps me pretty busy. Of course instead of learning Chinese, I have to learn Tagalog since the girl's family is Filipino.
If you don't like where you are, change to another location, but your job sounds pretty good being able to teach AP and non-English classes. I personally would like to find part-time work or a new job teaching Hospitality/Tourism related classes, perhaps next year at one of those local vocational colleges.
Astrotrain, I wouldn't give up so fast on the country. I'd give it a little longer. Again, try Chengdu, as I've heard the people there are quite friendly as opposed to the East & South coast of Mainland. They supposedly also have a thriving expat community to boot. |
Yeah, I stick with my music here, nothing much to do, I am in more of a 3rd tier city here. Alot of minorities here that speak all sorts of native language.
But thank God I can speak some Cantonese here and some of the locals 50% can understand basic questions I ask or talk about the weather etc but forget about developing long intellectual conversations and relationships.
The other FTs here don't know much Mandarin at all just the basics to get what they want no lengthy conversations with the local Chinese even the school staff.
How did you find and meet your Filipino wife here?
I am on one year contract and from the onset only planned to do the 1 year before I go back to Toronto and resume my old job.
From my experience the majority of the FTs here that stay long term is GF or wife here which compels them to stay but if you have none of that you are free as a bird to jet home, why suffer 3rd world conditions, unclean water/food, heat, horrible driving habits, exteme bugs and constant rain here?
I have some nasty bites all over my arms from the mosquitos and chiggers here, the other FT I hang with has it even worst.
But some things are cool here such as their Ebikes and no bitter cold winters so not everything is bad.
@ River
Yeah, it is mostly likely culture shock which is surprising me as well since I am same race, but will try harder to adjust. |
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cormac
Joined: 04 Nov 2008
Posts: 768
Location: Xi'an (XTU)
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| Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 12:20 am Post subject: |
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I have lived in Xi'an for the last 7 years, and have travelled a bit although gradually less as time goes by. This post is related to 2nd tier cities. Not going to comment on smaller places.
China has definitely changed. Teaching expectations by customers/schools have risen but salaries have mainly stayed the same. While Chinese salaries and living costs have risen, for the most part, FT salaries hover at the same amounts as 7 years ago. Sure.... There are those on higher salaries but, there's always been that based on luck, connections or just experience.
The real changes come from a cultural ptv. Chinese in the PRC have always been a bit lost when it comes to culture... sure they harp on about traditional culture and values but its the usual rubbish. Blow away the dust and they're devout captalists in the background. Moreso than western countries imho.
I would say that the appreciation, respect, or fascination about foreigners is rapidly disappearing. Girls will continue to be interested, but the stares are getting less, the amazed gasp of laowei by a child.. etc, are all fading into the background. Still happens but not as often.
There is also a growing contempt towards foreigners beyond what was here before. The anger is growing... And its appearing more often now, and not just limited to the powerless young boys, but has spread into other areas. Alas the responsibility of that rests with the foreigners... Its amazing the crap that foreigners do here.. (I did stupid things too, but in a more private place)
Lastly... Regarding smart phones... I don't know where you have been living but I've seen the same behavior in westen countries. It's not just the Chinese that are tractor-beamed to their phones... "young" people everywhere are. And it doesnt prevent you from contacting or getting to know them. You just need to prove you're worth listening to. What a shame...  |
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