Global village

Sharing their experiences

Preconceptions about China can be wrong, says Matt, an American expat, student, and teacher living in Kunming, Yunnan Province. He is one of dozens of China expats who have shared their experiences online on expatinterviews.com. Matt tells us about moving to China, his thoughts on the people, language, and culture, and what he likes the most and the least about the Middle Kingdom.

Canadian-born Rick is both a student and a teacher in the city of Dalian, Liaoning Province. Having a healthy sense of humor helps him adjust to life in a vastly different culture, which he respects. Rick is doing his best to help expats like him know more about this great place, in spite of knowing that they will always be regarded as "laowai" there. According to German expat Susanne, learning the language, exploring the area, enjoying a different lifestyle are some of the things that occupy her time in Beijing.

Reverse culture shock

American Jeremy might not be the only one who finds it hard to leave China. While he misses home greatly, and enjoyed it even more the one visit back over the past three years, things will be at least a little different when he gets back home.

"People will have moved on with their lives," he writes on thechinaexpat.com.

"Many people who were once friends are now just memories. Even my closest friends are no longer so close - we just touch base every now and then. Lasting friends from China are just as hard to keep - the expat population is one that doesn't stay in one place so much, and Chinese friends will likely remain in China."

Jeremy keeps up with some kinds of news and some TV shows (just finished watching the end of season 3 from Lost, and says it's amazingly good), but he also knows that there is much that is passing me by - things that people have experienced that I will never experience - reading about it on the news is not the same as going through it with the rest of the nation.

Surprise, surprise

There are many expat bloggers spouting their ideas in cyberspace, however, Josh from cupofcha.com was surprised when he ran across a Chinese discussion board that was sprouting ideas about his ideas.

The Chinese critic wrote: "This guy's thoughts are fairly simplistic, he criticizes China a lot (he's prejudiced against us might be more accurate). Evidently he has been severely brainwashed by the West but I do like the backdrop of the blog." It is simple and clean. Josh's comment: "They LOVE me! They really Love me! My backdrop is nice and clean?"

AND ANOTHER THING...

One of the big Christmas events is the lucky draw competitions at the bigger hotels. The great prizes, such as huge plasma TVs, holidays and other expensive goodies, attract huge Chinese crowds. However, unlike Christmas parties in the West, as soon as the draw finishes, the crowds leave. One curious Chinese partygoer asked the manager of a five-star Beijing Hotel: "So do you have a Christmas countdown to midnight or something?"

(China Daily 12/14/2007 page19)