Just wanted to leave a note in the blogosphere... Not that anyone is paying attention.

I think I'm going back to China.

I was shocked to hear a 7.9 earthquake hit my Chinese “hometown.” It actually looked like it hit somewhere near Jiuzhaigou, but Chengdu’s close enough. You wouldn’t be able to tell though that Chengdu is located in an earthquake-prone place. I don’t know if the seismographs there record weekly occurrences of earthquakes like in Japan, but it is in one of those hotspots – it’s at the foot of the Himalayas for crying out loud.

It really doesn’t surprise me though that so much damage resulted from the quake. I’m really sad about the tens of thousands of people who are dead or missing, but again, it really didn’t surprise me when I heard the stats.

Basically all of the modern buildings in China are made of concrete. When I was looking for an apartment, I was told by my Chinese friends to look for something that was at the most a few years old, because, by rule of thumb, a five-year-old building was considered old due to the material it was made from. I have absolutely no background in construction, but I’m certain the concrete used for most buildings is not the best as it begins to crumble around five years after the structure is built. It is not uncommon to see these “older” buildings being torn down with only a field of rubble remaining of the structures; perhaps the Chinese have lost their ability to build things that last.

Obviously the Sichuanese were unprepared for such a violent earthquake and unfortunately the death toll is climbing. I’m sorry that they were hit so hard, and I hope for many stories of miracles.

If you pray, please pray for the people of Sichuan.

Okay, so I am home again. I am one day off from my one year anniversary of when I hopped on the plane to China, and I will celebrate it at the dentist.

I know there is a large gap from the last time I wrote, but I have been touring around China and West Coast US for the past six weeks or so, not to mention the week before all the touring I was reeling from the shock of getting bit by a dog during my last week in Chengdu. There was a huge hoopla over that dogbite, and yes, I had to get the rabies shots; the immuno-globulin twice, actually, but that's a long story that I'll type up and post later as an account in case this thing goes legal... including pictures!

Anyway, my sinuses are trying to clear up after being stuffed for the past 10 months or so, my cat loves me again, and I'm now waiting in happy anticipation of finally eating a juicy US steak.

Bon appetit a moi!

7. Racial social hierarchy

From what I can tell, this is the hierarchy of the society, without taking into account other factors such as age and whatnot:

a. Chinese men
b. Beautiful Chinese women
c. Ugly Chinese women
d. Koreans (both South and North)
e. Laowai
f. Tied: Heiren and Chinese ethnic minorities
g. Japanese

In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s based on race and appearance. I have no idea where to place South Americans, Middle Easterners, and other Asians, but I think they can fit anywhere between e and f. I don’t know where to put the peoples of the American First Nations (i.e. – Indians) either, but apparently they’re not very interesting to the Chinese.

The factor of money is also thrown in. Here’s the explanation of the list:

a. – c.: Yes, the Chinese take the top of the list, headed by Chinese men. Yes, “ugly” Chinese women are at the bottom of the Chinese portion of the hierarchy, since of course the most important people are Chinese and Chinese people are “the best” no matter what they look like. Looks are still extremely important, however. A woman’s appearance is so important here that it’s become one of the factors of achieving success at work, or even getting work. Though traditional Chinese would be scandalized by the concept of plastic surgery because of the notion that your ancestors gave you your face and thus even wishing a permanent change to your appearance would be disrespecting them, many parents are now saving money for their daughters to get plastic surgery so they’d find work and get promoted quickly. I have actually seen more plastic surgery clinics here than anywhere in the US.

d.: Historically, Koreans and Chinese have been pretty close, with mainly the Koreans paying tribute to the Chinese as China was the most important force in Asia for a long time. Perhaps the current relationship is not too different. It does seem though that the Chinese consider the Koreans as Not-Quite-Chinese, which places them at right under the Chinese in the hierarchy. Many Westerners would wonder why I haven’t placed the Japanese somewhere along the same ranking as the Koreans, but you’ll figure out the mystery soon enough.

e.: Laowai (老外), by the way, is a very colloquial term for “foreigner.” It rhymes with “OW! Why?!?” You would actually hear this word more than the greeting “Ni hao.” In fact it might as well be a greeting (or warning?) because they actually say this at you (not "to" you). This term is so colloquial, I’m just short of thinking it as a racial slur, as it applies to any foreigner of European descent, so in some ways it can easily equate to “cracker.” There doesn’t seem to be any political correctness at all in China, just political politeness; they don’t use the term in the news or on diplomatic ventures though it is obviously not taboo to say in public. It is assumed that if you are a Laowai, especially an American Laowai, you have a lot of money to throw around, which apparently makes you a very good friend to have.

f.: There are two terms that I’d consider worse than “Laowai.” One translates to “foreign devil,” which I’ve been called by a five-year-old girl at a museum (and no, she was not chastised by her parents for saying it), and the other is the term they reserve for anyone of African descent: Heiren (黑人; said like, “Hey, wren!”). This term literally means “black person,” but it is also used to describe someone who would commit a felony, which is without a doubt a negative connotation. The are very few things I can say regarding what China is like for a “Heiren” since my experience has been that of a Laowai, but if I’m often on the brink of losing my patience being a Laowai, I’d definitely lose it if I were a Heiren; it’s been known that random Chinese would pinch a “Heiren” to see if the “black” would come off. I also place Chinese ethnic minorities at the same rank, since according to the Chinese the only good values the minorities have to offer to the rest of the world are pretty girls and dancing (Note: There aren't really any Han Chinese traditional dances; or at least none that women would perform -- yeah, a history of one thousand years or so of foot-binding can definitely wreak havoc on traditional performing arts).

g.: And finally, the Japanese. Remember World War II? Ever heard of the Rape of Nanking? Yes, the Chinese still hate the Japanese for that, among other events during the Japanese occupation, and they fan that fire with each generation. Westerners usually don’t understand this since it seems to be Western nature to forgive (which is good) and then totally forget (which is bad) things that have happened in the past; if we actually understood this point-of-view, I’m thinking many of us would have a different perspective of the Middle East as I think even Western diplomats to the Middle East are thinking of that region with a Western point-of-view, but then that is neither here nor there… The funny (if anything can be humorous about this issue) thing about the anti-Japanese sentiment, is that the Chinese really don’t mind buying Japanese goods and sending their kids to Japanese universities, and Chinese kids accept the Japanese as “bad but okay” based on their liking for Japanese video games, anime shows, and manga comics.

6. Staring

The Chinese, or at least those outside of downtown Beijing where they’re used to seeing foreigners, are always watching people who are obviously foreigners, for whatever reason. I think for the most part it is curiosity.

They are probably the most curious people I have ever met, though they make very quick judgments about all Americans or all westerners from the behavior, dress, eating habits, etc of just one person. Their curiosity is very obvious too, as they take no pains to hide it.

I can’t shop without eyes taking quick inventory of what’s in my basket. Sometimes I’ve even inspired people to buy whatever I’m buying. I’ve also been stalked while shopping. Sometimes at Carrefour, Trustmart, or Wal-mart I'd be about to hand over my cash or card to the cashier when the customers behind me would try to figure out what's in my wallet... which may not necessarily be the good type of curiosity... Don't worry, I haven't had anything lifted off me yet.

As a mere passer-by on the street, I’ve become the topic of a number of conversations. And trust me, you’d know even without any proficiency in Chinese when they’re talking about you.

I have nearly caused other people serious injuries just by taking a package with me from A to B, waiting for traffic lights to change, or walking down the street. Some really curious passers-by would slow whatever they're driving to watch me as I go about my business, and they almost smack into something or someone. It’s a lot like that scene in Memoirs of a Geisha (except this is of course Memoirs of a Laowai). I’ve nearly gotten injured myself by gawking bicyclists whose steering tried to follow their eyes. Trying to refrain from yelling (or worse) at someone who just stops short of maiming you really does build your character.

I’ve been stared at while I’m eating in Chinese restaurants (as opposed to the western style restaurants here), though part of that is because I’m left-handed and supposedly everybody in China is right-handed. Or at least (so far) they are taught to be right-handed.

The staring actually has been an annoyance to me from day one, and there has not been a day when I haven't noticed it. I try to be understanding in thinking that they’re not used to seeing people with such drastic physical differences from theirs.

Most of the time though, I, as well as other Laowai, wish they’d just drop it and go on with life, especially as there are, even with more than 1.3 billion Chinese in the world, plenty of Laowai-looking people elsewhere on the globe.

5. Traffic

This one will probably be very hard to get across, at least when you’re trying to limit the length of the explanation… so I’ll just put it into guidelines:

1) Representations of written traffic laws like crosswalks, crosswalk lights, and bike-lanes, are just suggestions, street decorations (they do like to have a lot of blinking lights around), or perhaps just for the benefit of visiting foreigners.

2) Even when you’re walking across an empty, deserted parking lot, some bike rider coming from behind you will choose to speed up and cut you off rather than going behind you as they change direction. Same situation with motorists vs. pedestrians in the same setting, though there's no hope in knocking them out of their cars if you lose your temper. After you’ve had many such close encounters, you may feel there’s no point in clipping your toenails anymore as these people will do it for you if you wear your sandals.

3) Only the people in the front seat of cars seem to have seatbelts. The people sitting in the back of any vehicle, especially taxis, should reconnect with their Maker.

4) Though in the US they teach you to look left, right, and left again before crossing the street, in China you would be standing at a crosswalk all day appearing to any observers like you’re at a tennis match as cars seem to materialize out of nowhere.

5) 90% of all vehicles will not slow down for you when you’re walking down the street, waiting at a crosswalk to cross the street, or already walking across the street.

6) When the crosswalk lights tell you that you can cross the street, it’s a lie; vehicles making turns will still have the right of way to mow you down. In other words, the light doesn’t tell you when it’s safe to cross the street, it only tells you when it’s safest.

7) Vehicles use every paved surface to get where they need to be. This includes bike lanes, opposing traffic lanes, and sidewalks.

8) There are two main sounds you hear besides basic traffic noises: incessant honking and very poorly kept brakes.

9) Unless you hadn’t noticed, pedestrians are at the bottom of the food chain.

10) Chinese traffic may inspire within you a type of road rage that is very rare in the US: pedestrian road rage.

11) If you ever find yourself suddenly involved in some type of traffic accident, especially if it wasn't your fault, pick up whatever appendages you've lost and run (or limp) quickly away. Otherwise, you may spend hours at a police station enjoying a flood of the "victim's" relatives chewing you out in rapid and incomprehensible Chinese, and then you'd have to pay for this "entertainment".

In other words, roads in China might seem like a video game in which motorists or bicyclists try to come as close as possible to pinging off as many pedestrians as they can.

Other pedestrians, as well as their not-quite-dogs and babies, can cause traffic problems too, but more on that will be coming up.

3. Spitting / Hacking

Basically every man and old lady can whip up a loogie that even a camel would envy. Keep your ears sharp as they inadvertently warn you of an impending loogie as they noisily form it in their throats. Be sure to move away as quickly as possible; you do not want to be caught between the loogie and the pavement.

Speaking of ground surfaces, do not set anything you want to keep clean onto the floor of any building in China, even hospitals, grocery stores, most restaurants, and some libraries; spitting goes on indoors here too. This also includes trains and any other form of transportation.


4. Human Smokestacks

As if China didn’t already have air quality problems, human smokestacks (most men) make it worse by smoking everywhere without considering other people; I’ve seen men light up and smoke around pregnant women and infants.

By the way, as for any non-smoking male that comes to China, your masculinity comes into question if / when some Chinese men find out you don’t share their (disgusting) habit. As for any foreign female smokers that come to China, you be wild women; but then, they assume that of you anyway since you’re from the West, which is apparently full of Britneys.

For the past week or two, we've all been getting irritated by a really strong feeling of culture shock. The ironic thing is that it's hitting most of us just a couple of weeks before we're free to go home. We will all have many stories regarding this topic, and to give you an idea of the contributing factors to the frustration and culture shock of many an American ex-pat to China, I'll be briefly discussing each one at the rate of a couple per day.

You might not believe some of what I describe as some of it may just be wierd and beyond comprehension. Other things may seem tolerable, but trust me, the tolerance definitely wears off within a year.

Anyway, let the wierdness begin...


1. Line-Cutting and Swarming

Case 1: The “line” becomes less discernible towards the front as a quarter of the country and their fifth cousin rush to the front of the “line” to talk to the airline agent, shouting questions and delaying the rest of the people waiting in “line” by 15 minutes… each. The others elbow their way to the front, so the line you're in really doesn’t look like a line; it’s a mob.

Solution: Don’t fight the system; flow with it – elbow your way to the front too. Elbow pads should then be put on your list for what to bring with you to China. You also may consider bringing a helmet. Just for grins.

Case 2: Somebody cuts in front of you as you wait for someone to finish cleaning out the ATM of all its cash, giving you a covert side-glance in the hope that 1) you didn’t notice; or 2) you, the foreigner, wouldn’t speak enough Chinese to inform them to move it to the back of the line.

Solution: Depending on the circumstances, either suck it up, play it passive-aggressive as you steal your own spot back, or tell them you’ve waited long enough and that their presence is requested at the back of the line.


2. Chinese-Friending

Definition: The act of initiating the befriending process, commonly used by many (though not all) young Chinese when it comes to meeting their foreign counterparts. An express version of friendship, it would take you from first base straight to third, friendship-wise. Common experiences consist of:

1) Upon the exchange of cell numbers, you are “friends.”
2) You cannot possibly be just an acquaintance, as since you’ve met, you were obviously “destined” to become friends.
3) You will have a lot of surprises as you realize your Chinese “friend” actually has many expectations of you after you’ve failed to meet them.
4) You receive numerous determined phone calls from your “friend” especially when you don’t answer the phone. Said “friend” will let the phone ring for about three minutes, hang up, and then try again half a minute later.
5) You will be invited to many mystery excursions, some of which may require having your picture taken numerous times.
6) You may or may not need to sing John Denver’s “Country Roads.”
7) A couple of weeks into the “friendship” you start receiving text messages saying “I miss you!” from some person you hardly remember.
8) You will become the stereotype for all Americans in the eyes of your “friend.”

Solution: If you want to stop the insanity, either change your phone number or change your phone’s ring settings to mute.

Do you know what happens when you go to bed somewhat close to dawn, a couple of days in a row? Yeah. You feel like you belong in a different time zone. It’d probably be an advantage to me, considering my new sleeping schedule is somewhat closer to west coast US time than Beijing time and I’ll have to adjust soon enough anyway. At the very least I hope it’ll help make the jet lag situation easier when I step back onto American soil.

No, I didn’t do this on purpose. I’ve been “driving the night train” as the Chinese would say (开 夜 车), working out my problems online when the internet is at its fastest, which actually has made me quite productive, especially in terms of figuring out the current 90 pound gorilla in my life – academics.

I’ve figured out that my major is not very student-friendly, especially as the department doesn’t provide helpful resources and credits don’t seem to transfer like they should. You’re not given any information about future classes, not even required classes. They have this really stupid requirement of doing a research paper on China while physically at the UW with a UW China studies professor, which renders the research on China I’ve been doing for the past year and a half pointless even though I’ve actually been doing the research in China for the past year.

It’s also a major that wouldn’t do anyone any good until you get at least a masters in it, and since I’m having so much trouble with the bachelors, I really don’t want to pursue the masters. In fact, I’ve begun to not want to pursue the bachelors either, though I’ll keep plodding on if it turns out I’ll have only a couple of classes left to complete it when I get back to the US. I am tired of seeing my hard work go to waste.

Until a couple of weeks ago I was very concerned about how my credits earned here in China will transfer, but, as stated in the past few posts, I decided it would be wise to major in something I could use – linguistics. I’d still graduate within a year, which is interesting considering I’ve been majoring in China studies for the past four years. Spend four years studying one subject and then graduating year switch to a different major that will actually take me just one year to complete? So funny-sad.

I’ve already acted upon this “major” decision (sorry about the pun) by signing up for correspondence courses in linguistics, which I will start in mid-July.

Hmm... with ideas like this, I ought to fool around with my circadian rhythm more often...

I accidentally skipped Five, also known as the Circus Monkey Week, but I can just summarize it like this: nix on the China studies major, yea to the linguistics major and honors with a minor in history; try for minor in anthropology / archaeology. Added a Russian class to my schedule in place of all the China studies classes I dropped. Gotta fill the void, y'know.

Considered studying abroad again for Spring 08 (Jerusalem, Israel; Cairo, Egypt; Galway, Ireland; Ioannina, Greece) or even Summer 08 (all over Greece; Corsica, France) depending on when I can start my career, but I have to take a certain course in the spring, and the summer programs look somewhat expensive.


And now, Four.


* No archaeology trip to Jiuzhaigou, but will go to Hailuogou Glacier for a daytrip instead.

* Our cruise on the Yangzi is a definite!

* After doing even more research, it's possible that I'd have one or two more classes left for the China studies major, which means it'd be a pretty stupid time to drop it. I'll just wait until all the credits transfer from my study abroad before I pull the plug, but regardless I'll be starting on my BA in linguistics.