Job Discussion Forums

[Galileo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lg3tIERI-D4

Her video certainly was insensitive, but I thought that some of the reactions to the video were even more offensive. She decided that it was best to drop out of school for her own safety.

" 'I made a mistake. My mistake, however, has lead to the harassment of my family, the publishing of my personal information, death threats, and being ostracized from an entire community. Accordingly, for personal safety reasons, I have chosen to no longer attend classes at UCLA,' she wrote in a letter to the Daily Bruin, UCLA's student newspaper....

"On Monday, the student newspaper reported she contacted police after she received numerous threats. And as news of the video continued to spread, the threats did as well. Her political science professor, Phil Gussin, told the Daily Bruin that he was working with her to make alternative plans to take her finals - because of the nature and volume of the threats."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/03/19/2011-03-19_alexandra_wallace_ucla_student_who_created_offensive_viral_video_withdrawing_fro.html#ixzz1HTdNGWrz

[spiral78]

She really did say very offensive things, and totally should have known better. If there are reactions (and over-reactions), well, I'm afraid I think she needed to know that words have consequences. Hopefully a good life-lesson; she's young and VERY unlikely to make such a mistake again in future.

[wiganer]

This is 'Cultural Differences 101' and what she was saying wasn't truly offensive until she stared doing her 'tingtongchingchong' crap, then whatever gravitas she had with her video disappeared along with her future at UCLA.

I teach my Chinese students politesse and 'western' manners as most of them are learning English for the chance of life in the 'Anglosphere' As far as generalisations go, I tend to find Chinese people are very nice but not very well mannered whereas English people aren't all that nice but tend to be well instructed in politesse. I teach them the importance of 'please' and 'thank you' and 'can I' and 'may I' and the classes always go down a storm - I always do a bit of role play between myself and the class where I open the door for them to let through before me and see how long it takes for one of them to say 'thank you' usually there is 20 students outside the classroom waiting to be let back in.

My beautiful wife is Chinese and when we first started dating and I would cook her food she would never say thank you and I would get upset, it was only after awhile that I learned that Chinese people don't say 'thank you' to people they love, it is a phrase used for strangers but I didn't know and would get angry at her because of her apparent ingratitude - cultural difference lesson no 1 learned.

To western sensibilities talking/shouting loudly, hawking and spitting, staring, inappropriate mobile phone use, throwing money down at shop staff, picking noses, jumping queues, pushing and walking into you and the rest of it is very rude but it really is a clash of two different cultures.

Alexandra Wallace should have kept it shut but she probably sees all this going on in what she thinks is 'her country' and is angry. There are a lot of Koreans and Chinese angry that we are in their countries teaching English and publicly state opinions about us that are far more offensive and racist.
Let us hope lessons have been learned by both sides.

[chaiplz]