One of the best things I've done

People back in Europe or the US (that havent been to China) often have the wrong kind of image of Chinese people. Many people seem to think that all that Chinese people ever do is to cheat foreigners. I often get questions from friends or people that are coming here for a visit, wondering how alert they should be for scams and such. And sure, there are some infamous scams (like art students from Beijing/Xian/Suzhou who try to sell you their crappy paintings after befriending you on the street but you easy learn how to spot those ones), and every now and then a taxi driver will make one extra turn in order to earn some extra kuais (I have to say though, that I dont think taxi drivers are bad guys. They are often helpful and friendly and keen to get you where you want as fast as possible. For their own sake as much as yours), but generally speaking, I dont think people here cheat you that much.

Yesterday was a day when I realized how awesome Chinese people really are. I first had a great day at work, chatting to my Chinese colleagues that I like a lot, and then went for a haircut I have been going to the same Chinese girl since I came here, so for soon 5 years. About 1 year ago she discovered that I can speak Mandarin, and since then its been a pleasure to go for a trim. I dont even have to tell her what I want her to do with my hair she already knows. And she does those small little extra things for you that a hairdresser back home would never do. Also, she works together with her sister and brother (biological) and they are all just lovely, friendly and helpful without being too much. When I left them last night they were all standing together, waving me off with big smiles on their faces.

On my way back I passed a fruit stand and decided to get some bananas. It wa! s an old , Chinese man selling the fruit, and he watched me with an amused expression on his face. Every time I touched a fruit, he ran up to me, touching the same fruit, and telling me its name in Chinese. I know, I know! I finally said in Chinese with a smile, and that resulted in his amused expression turning into a delighted one.

I ended up buying heaps of stuff, strawberries, bananas, kiwis and I didnt even ask for the price. Only when he was filling up a bag with strawberries did I ask how much they were.

-Dont worry, I wont charge you much.

And he didnt. In the end he asked for 9 kuai (!). When I gave him 10 and said it was OK like that, he came running after me with 1 kuai, smiling, and telling me to come back soon again.

I walked home feeling as if I was walking on clouds not for any specific reason: not because I bought cheap fruit or had a good haircut or because I really like my co-workers: But because Im so happy Im living here and can communicate with all these amazing people! Yesterday my hairdresser ended up telling me about what it was like growing up in a poor village in Anhui and its just so interesting and fascinating to listen to stories like that. You would think it would be a sob story but its not. More often its a down-to-earth story of how someone whos had very little, still has managed to make the most of it. And thats pretty fascinating and inspiring if you ask me.

Although Ive had my ups and downs with China (and not to mention with learning Chinese) I have to say that coming here and especially learning this language is one of the best things Ive ever done.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

40,000 hairy crabs released in Yangtze

Image
THE city government yesterday freed 40,000 hairy crabs into the mouth of Yangtze River near the Qingcaosha Reservoir, the first step in a five-year campaign to repair the ecosystem to improve the water quality in the reservoir that provides tap water for millions of residents. The hairy crabs will help establish a complete food chain in the river to help more fish and other aquatic animals survive in the river, Zhuang Ping, deputy director of the East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, told Shanghai Daily yesterday. The released crabs, about half female and half male, will eat plankton while some of their offspring will become food for meat-eating fish higher in the food chain, said Zhuang, who is leading the water-improvement program. "The better ecosystem the water has, the better its water quality will be," he said. With a capacity of 438 million cubic meters, the reservoir is providing tap water to about 10 million
Keep reading

Shanghai port consolidates its position as world's busiest

Image
SHANGHAI, the world's busiest container port, will consolidate its title this year and leverage its record throughput to become a multi-faceted provider of port services. The city, which overtook Singapore as the world's biggest container handler last year, saw its annual container traffic volume surpass 30 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) yesterday. The figure hits an unprecedented level in the world's port history and marks a new leg in Shanghai's voyage to become a global shipping center by 2020. China's remarkable trade boom is reflected in the Shanghai port numbers, which went from 7,951 TEUs in 1978 to 29.05 million TEUs in 2010. The city's customs oversaw a total of US$790 billion worth of imports and exports in the first three quarters of this year - a 19.3 percent year-on-year increase. And its port handled 23.9 million TEUs over the first 10 months, ahead of that of 23.56 million TEUs at Singapore Port. Shanghai International Port (Group) Co,
Keep reading

Praise, scorn for teacher's odd command

Image
A middle school math teacher has stirred controversy after forcing 20 of his students to slap their own faces for three minutes because they made noise in class and scored poorly on exams. Angry local residents are demanding that the teacher resign and asking the school to announce a punishment. But some of the teacher's students, including some who were forced to slap themselves, are calling for leniency. The incident occurred in a class at Donglu Middle School in Pudong on Tuesday when the math teacher surnamed Yang ordered 20 students in his class to slap their faces after he was irritated by them making noise in class. The students said Yang was known as a very strict teacher, so almost all the students obeyed his order and started slapping themselves in the face for about three minutes. Those who slapped too lightly were told by the teacher to slap harder, students told the Oriental Morning Post. Yang's behavior has sparked anger among local residents, especially so
Keep reading