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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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thebum
Joined: 09 Jan 2005
Location: North Korea
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 Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 8:25 am Post subject: |
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a chinese friend of mine who is here in korea always tells me about how china has 50 or so different ethnic groups (민족 - this actually means "race" or "country") and that they are all different.
I just checked wikipedia:
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| While over a hundred ethnic groups have existed in China, the government of the People's Republic of China officially recognizes a total of 56. |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#Demographics |
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periwinkle
Joined: 08 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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| KWhitehead wrote: |
| periwinkle wrote: |
| I thought your topic was valid, Dev. I've wondered a bit about China, and I've even tried to sign up for the off-topic China forum, but I wasn't approved or something, because I never got an e-mail from Big Dave with a nifty password. =( I bet that forum is wicked entertaining. |
it's insane. i stopped reading it. anybody who thinks the korean forums are negative haven't visited the Off-Topic China one. you gotta check up on it several times a day to read everything, as quite a few threads are deleted.... for flaming other users and for flaming China itself. i guess the chinese govt is watching! |
Awesome. I'm totally going to try to sign up again! |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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The beer in China is all across the table better than Korea's beer, and way cheaper too.
I'm tired of hearing Koreans dis Chinese food. It's like something they learned in school--"Chinese food is too greasy." That doesn't mean it doesn't taste great. Get your own opinion. |
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Dev
Joined: 18 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 8:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Trumpcard wrote: |
| and the beer is awful. |
Maybe you have a different taste for beer, but when I visited, I had some really great beer. I had a locally brewed version of Tiger Beer which was as good as any other European or Japanese beer.
The restaurant I had dinner in had at least 6 different beers I could choose from. I got a dark microbrew beer which was very good.
The beers were in tall 500ml bottles with colored foil over the caps. Classy presentation and tasty. Why we can't get this quality in Korea puzzles me. |
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thebum
Joined: 09 Jan 2005
Location: North Korea
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
The beer in China is all across the table better than Korea's beer, and way cheaper too.
I'm tired of hearing Koreans dis Chinese food. It's like something they learned in school--"Chinese food is too greasy." That doesn't mean it doesn't taste great. Get your own opinion. |
that's because they think chinese food is 자장면 and 탕수육 and fried 만두 (i.e. koreanized chinese food). |
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ella
Joined: 17 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 9:47 pm Post subject: |
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Disney has seen fit to build a second theme park there - this time in Shangai - for whatever that's worth. I'm sure it says something about the changing economic situation in China.
Excellent post, stevemcgarrett. KWhitehead, I'd like to read your book, too. |
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tzechuk
Joined: 20 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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I am Chinese.
What am I like???  |
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rocklee
Joined: 04 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:15 pm Post subject: |
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| stevemcgarrett wrote: |
Trumpcard:
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| and the beer is awful |
You're really clueless if you believe this. While it sure ain't the best Belgian or German brew, or American microbrew, China does have a few decent beers. One, which is exported to Korea, is Tsingdao, from the former German port city of Qingdao. Nothing in Korea rivals it, especially on tap. Harbin in the northeast has Snow beer, which for the price is also good. And in the biggest cities you can get imported beer in greater variety than any Korean big city except Seoul, but cheaper than any place in Korea.
Dev:
China is still a developing country as even the government openly admits. However, it has enclaves of modernity that rival anything in Korea. In my opinion it's a heck of a lot more interesting culturally since, naturally, it has a more ancient and diverse culture. But then I find Korea almost painfully banal compared to almost anywhere else in East or Southeast Asia. But Dev, if you are indeed a marshmallow as some posters purport here, you had better stay put. The Chinese are less likely to tolerate whiners, or at least respect you among themselves.
Chinese students are much more outgoing compared to Korean students and their pronunciation is generally better. They're more like to act as individuals and reveal their personalities in class than most Koreans, too. And you're not likely to run into the hideous bell curve grading syndrome, although sometimes grades are changed behind the scenes (without affecting other students' grades, mind you). One big problem prevalent in all but the best universities is jiang hua, or idle chatter, during class even when their classmates are giving speeches. Unlike Korea, almost half of all high school graduates cannot find even one college with seats to accept them. It is changing, but the demand far exceeds the supply. That said, I got more effort and output from my better Chinese students of English than I do in Korea (and I taught almost all levels). This might come as a pleasant surprise: the larger urban school districts have superior English instruction and more ambitious standards and goals than in Korea. This is unequivocally true. So students who are English majors at all levels are better prepared than their counterparts in Korea. The textbooks are far superior nowadays in China, I might add.
If cuisine is your thing, there simply is NO comparison. For sheer variety, flavor and price the Chinese have the Koreans beat hands down (and the Japanese too, although the latter is overall healthier). The food tends to be much fresher, since open markets abound.
I wonder what all the grief is about Chinese taxi cab drivers. In nearly a decade in China I was cheated only twice to my knowledge. And most Chinese cab drivers are chatty, unlike in Korea. Their cars, except in the very biggest metro areas, are not as roomy or nice as Korean models but they are much, much cheaper to ride. I find most Korean cab drivers flaunt the rules of the road more than Chinese, who are more cautious because they cannot afford not to be. Traffic is more congested in big Chinese cities than in Korea and must compete with pedicabs and donkey carts in many smaller locales.
Of course, Chinese merchants are more aggressive; they have to be to earn even a basic daily wage. But you can buy the amount you want as opposed to here where the amount in the open markets is usually pre-determined. They also don't usually play games with sales in newspapers and if you return to the same merchants they will not be likely to cheat you.
The ratio of "ice princesses" to approachable women in China is MUCH smaller than Korea. Many wear no or little makeup; not fixated on it like most Korean girls. An interesting aside: far, far fewer Chinese girls smoke or drink in public compared to Korea and they are as a rule far stronger physically in terms of endurance (fewer lotus blossoms than you might imagine) and less likely to whine although they will opine. They are more even-tempered than a lot of Kimchee Chicks I've heard about, sentimental, less prone to cynicism in the main, and able to deftly balance femininity with charm. If you're an older guy, it doesn't matter much unlike in Korea where ageism is beginning to encroach from the West. While increasingly fashion-conscious, they aren't consumed by it, and most can't afford to be anyhow. Earthy and ethereal at the same time, with a lot of sentimentality.
On the flip side, you have to deal with the residues of Commie bureaucratic incompetence, much lower salaries (that doesn't quite offset the lower cost-of-living), guanxi (bribery) in its most corrupt form, often filthy sidestreets, beggars galore, and lots of air pollution. The medical care, save for a few big metro hospitals, is abysmal and scary and HIV is on the rise, especially in Guangdong and Yunnan. The country is experiencing massive upheaval and has probably the most cut-throat capitalist trends in the world. Nationalism is becoming almost jingoistic, egged on by the Commie leadership (CCP) who manipulate for their own devices. But, to be fair, it's also indicative of a newfound pride in what this once backward nation is so quickly accomplishing, at least economically. Of course, state censorship, even of the Internet, is pervasive and politics works its petty way into almost every nook and cranny of the daily regimen. Self-criticism is often expected and received sometimes to the point of sado-masochism. The Chinese can be alarmingly matter-of-fact, which is off-putting to unsuspecting Western neophytes but refreshing to those of us who stay longer and are tired of the euphemistic, safe and P.C. use of language back home. They have a high tolerance for noise, evidently, since noise pollution is rampant and surpasses anything in Korea. Horn-honking is incessant and often gratuitous and there's only one rule of the road: whoever gets there first. Personal hygiene varies widely depending on social class, hawking and spitting persists and in Beijing is a scourge on the landscape. The Chinese, while more polite in phone conversation than Koreans, are far less polite in terms of waiting their turn in line, waiting to board a subway, train, or bus and allowing personal space (especially where it's crowded or the people are older).
But the Chinese endure, they're mostly upbeat (things can only get better) and they're NOT insecure but confident, even coc-ky (albeit quietly) about their cultural heritage. They approach foreigners and stare at them alternately far more than the typical Koreans and yet their xenophobia I find more tolerable, because the educated among them are more aware of it. Parents generally are thrilled to share their babies with strangers and love to let foreigners dote over their children, unlike most Koreans. While far from egalitarian, and still stubbornly class-conscious (70% still live in rural areas), there is less of a drive among most to keep up with the Zhangs than I've observed thus far in Korea.
The food culture--and eating big dinners--is unsurpassed in the world and the Chinese are quicker to laugh and be animated with foreign friends and acquantances than most Koreans, it seems to me. Chinese live life with less complaint than most Westerners, and when I left I knew they had touched me more deeply than any other culture I've traveled in before or since. |
Said everything that I would have said. Cheers mate. |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:17 pm Post subject: |
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Chinese Food Myth No 1:
There are at least five major schools of Chinese cooking, originating in different regions. The only oily, or greasy, food, is prevalent in parts of the north central region including Beijing. Some street food is greasy if deep fried. Guangdong (Cantonese) food is lightly and slightly sweetly sauced and Sichuan is spicy so you wouldn't care much about the oil regardless. Remember, in terms of Chinese vs. Korean food, we're comparing apples and--er--rotten apples here.
Tiger Beer is a global beer now and imports its hops from Germany, its malt barley from Australia and is now processed in the Netherlands. It's been around since before the last world war, originated in Singapore, if I'm not mistaken.
CHINA OFF-TOPIC FORUM:
In a previous incarnation I was a regular poster to that forum. Dave's requires registration simply because they want to filter and monitor the posters more closely. The old forum, which included some insightful, compelling and provocative threads, was also notorious for flame-baiting and even trolling and attracted a certain fringe element that was wacko or pretending to be. Then came the deleted thread controversy and close on its heels this registration thing. Needless to say, I left, as did dozens of others. I heard a few try to start their own forum elsewhere on the Net.
ADDENDUM TO MY LONG-WINDED POST:
The only people who kick-started my spirit almost as much as the Chinese are the Aussies. But then they're more countries I haven't visited than visited over the years. Respect the Finns for being the only nation to repay their war debt to America and for being hardy souls anyhow for standing up to the Russians--and the Poles.
Last edited by stevemcgarrett on Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:31 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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| tzechuk wrote: |
I am Chinese.
What am I like??? |
You are loud and rude and dirty. I just asked any Korean. |
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kimchi_pizza
Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Location: "Get back on the bus! Here it comes!"
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:41 pm Post subject: |
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I lived in Taiwan for 3 years if that's any help or comparison. I agree with Dev for the MOST part.
Differing views-
Food: Oily-as-all-get-out. Hense the amount of tea they consume. The only time I found good and healthy food was out in the country and mountains. Inner-city? forgetaboutit!
Teaching: A great many were very eager to learn English and have excellent pronounciation. The students were great but the schools? Corruption and contract violations are far more frequent than here or Japan. When they tried to add additional classes and responsibility I was told to "bend like bamboo and go with the wind of changes." I taught in a few of the most "respectable" bilingual schools in a major city. One was actually owned by the local mafia!  (Some teachers suspect it was used to launder money). Lawyers refused to handle my complaint due to my schools "connections".
Money: I was earning the same as I am now, but the cost of living is FAR cheaper so you should be able to save quite a bit!
People: Very friendly.
Negative remarks: Drugs are rampant, cheating husbands are a trend, money and business comes first even before family. Business and almight Yuan are worshipped. And no.1 complaint, the pollution! Sweeping my floor was like sweeping a chimney I-kid-u-not!
So, positive and negative comments, but it all comes down to how YOU view it. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:48 pm Post subject: |
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| This is Taiwan you're talking about? That's like saying you lived in Halifax for three years so you can tell people what Los Angeles is like. |
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tzechuk
Joined: 20 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:08 pm Post subject: |
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| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| tzechuk wrote: |
I am Chinese.
What am I like??? |
You are loud and rude and dirty. I just asked any Korean. |
I am hurt by this comment, Racetraitor! |
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kimchi_pizza
Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Location: "Get back on the bus! Here it comes!"
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:13 pm Post subject: |
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| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| This is Taiwan you're talking about? That's like saying you lived in Halifax for three years so you can tell people what Los Angeles is like. |
And with your experience and observations, again, how long did you stay in China? I'd say my post is more credible granted the many outward differences the two countries(?) may have, they are still undeniably linked. By the way, you did catch the first line of my post, "..if it's any help or comparsion." You can take my words wine for wine or wine for water, makes no difference to me. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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| kimchi_pizza wrote: |
| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| This is Taiwan you're talking about? That's like saying you lived in Halifax for three years so you can tell people what Los Angeles is like. |
And with your experience and observations, again, how long did you stay in China? I'd say my post is more credible granted the many outward differences the two countries(?) may have, they are still undeniably linked. By the way, you did catch the first line of my post, "..if it's any help or comparsion." You can take my words wine for wine or wine for water, makes no difference to me. |
I'd say my five days in Beijing would tell a lot more about China than your three years in Taiwan. Also you should have noticed that they do business very differently in China, what with being a communist country.
| tzechuk wrote: |
| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| tzechuk wrote: |
I am Chinese.
What am I like??? |
You are loud and rude and dirty. I just asked any Korean. |
I am hurt by this comment, Racetraitor! |
Come to think of it, so am I. |
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