"Where to?"
I got in the back of the taxi and hoped that would be the last question he would ask me. "北正街"
"You speak Chinese very well. Where are you from?"
He wasn't going to give up easily. I decided to play along. "No, not really. My Chinese is very bad. I'm from America."
"Really. It's great. How long have you lived here?"
"Oh well I've been here for a year and a half."
"Did you study Chinese in America before you came?"
"No, just when I got to China."
"Did you study by yourself or in class?"
"By myself."
"Are you a student?"
No, and please for the love of God stop asking me questions.
"No, I'm a teacher. I teach English at the Three Gorges University."
"Oh...how much money do you make?"
Not enough to make it worth hearing all these questions over and over again.
"That's not enough! Do you think America is better or China is better?"
How can I possibly answer this question?"Um...well I love it here."
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"How old are you?"
"Are you married?"
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"Do you want to find a Chinese husband?"
"Do you think Chinese is harder or English is harder?"
"Why did you come to China?"
"Do you like Chinese food?"
By the time I arrive at my destination there is the distinct feeling that this taxi driver knows me better than my own mother. I'll go ahead and confess, I get annoyed. Almost every time. It's the same questions over and over again, with a different driver. But along the way I started to question my reluctance to make small talk with a stranger. Why does it annoy me that he is interested in my life?
If I had to choose one defining characteristic of Chinese culture, I'd be compelled to highlight their hospitality. Guests are highly honored and respected here. And that includes guests in their country. We may be "lao wai", those pesky old foreigners who come to China, but we are guests in their land and therefore are treated with utmost kindness. It's ironic to me that they seem to intuitively know that living in a strange land is difficult, without ever having tried it--so the people we meet seem to go out of their way to make us comfortable. In China, where it's a lot harder for a college graduate to get a decent job than it is in the States, nobody accuses me of job stealing by coming over here. They don't tell me to get back on the boat. Nobody gets mad at me for not learning Chinese, in fact they act blown away by my ability to say two words in their language. People everywhere are eager to help me in my native language instead of grouchily declaring that I ought to learn Chinese. So taxi drivers ask me too many questions as a way of showing their friendliness. Next time I start to get frustrated that he won't leave me alone, I'll try to remember the alternative.
"The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the old man who will not laugh is a fool."
I got in the back of the taxi and hoped that would be the last question he would ask me. "北正街"
"You speak Chinese very well. Where are you from?"
He wasn't going to give up easily. I decided to play along. "No, not really. My Chinese is very bad. I'm from America."
"Really. It's great. How long have you lived here?"
"Oh well I've been here for a year and a half."
"Did you study Chinese in America before you came?"
"No, just when I got to China."
"Did you study by yourself or in class?"
"By myself."
"Are you a student?"
No, and please for the love of God stop asking me questions.
"No, I'm a teacher. I teach English at the Three Gorges University."
"Oh...how much money do you make?"
Not enough to make it worth hearing all these questions over and over again.
"That's not enough! Do you think America is better or China is better?"
How can I possibly answer this question?"Um...well I love it here."
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"How old are you?"
"Are you married?"
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"Do you want to find a Chinese husband?"
"Do you think Chinese is harder or English is harder?"
"Why did you come to China?"
"Do you like Chinese food?"
By the time I arrive at my destination there is the distinct feeling that this taxi driver knows me better than my own mother. I'll go ahead and confess, I get annoyed. Almost every time. It's the same questions over and over again, with a different driver. But along the way I started to question my reluctance to make small talk with a stranger. Why does it annoy me that he is interested in my life?
If I had to choose one defining characteristic of Chinese culture, I'd be compelled to highlight their hospitality. Guests are highly honored and respected here. And that includes guests in their country. We may be "lao wai", those pesky old foreigners who come to China, but we are guests in their land and therefore are treated with utmost kindness. It's ironic to me that they seem to intuitively know that living in a strange land is difficult, without ever having tried it--so the people we meet seem to go out of their way to make us comfortable. In China, where it's a lot harder for a college graduate to get a decent job than it is in the States, nobody accuses me of job stealing by coming over here. They don't tell me to get back on the boat. Nobody gets mad at me for not learning Chinese, in fact they act blown away by my ability to say two words in their language. People everywhere are eager to help me in my native language instead of grouchily declaring that I ought to learn Chinese. So taxi drivers ask me too many questions as a way of showing their friendliness. Next time I start to get frustrated that he won't leave me alone, I'll try to remember the alternative.
"The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the old man who will not laugh is a fool."
-孔子(Confucius)
3 comments:
That was a long title. but I LOVE YOU!! And they definitely love foreigners more than Aussies do.
ummmmm this is so weird. because last night, i basically wrote the EXACT same thing in my journal. but mine had no positive twist...you so are a better person than i am.
- Elizabeth
wow what if everyone was that way what world we would have love you
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