Survival

At this point, it is all about survival – like the primate instincts have kicked in – eat or be eaten! Ever heard of “Culture Shock”? I would say that is an understatement. Don’t get me wrong, I knew things would be different over here. In fact, that was one of the reasons I chose to come here. I wanted something totally different from the norm, outside my comfort zone, and man, oh, man, I just scored the winning touchdown in triple overtime! As I am sitting here reflecting, I actually cannot think of anything that isn’t crazy different from the norm. Not just different, but crazy different.

So how about a rundown of how I am surviving thus far… driving is the scariest thing I have ever encountered. There are more mopeds and bikes than cars, but a ton of taxis and buses, and I truly believe that laws do not exist. People drive however and wherever they please with little regard to anyone or anything around them. Bikes and pedestrians do NOT have the right of way to cars, and if you are in the way – LOOK OUT! People do not wear seat belts (I have yet to even see a seat belt in a taxi) or helmets and I am pretty sure laws do not exist in regards to children. Children are not required to sit in a car seat and they are allowed to ride as a standing passenger on a moped. I was absolutely appalled the first time I saw a young child jumping around in the front seat of a car – that was until I saw a mother riding on the back of a moped, carrying her infant in her arms driving down the highway, as the driver swerved in and out of traffic. Honestly, I am more afraid of being run over by a moped (because they come out of nowhere and drive down the sidewalks) than being abducted. Furthermore, if being a taxi passenger doesn’t give me high blood pressure, I don’t think anything will. They speed in an out of traffic, fly through red lights, and honk their horns like it is going out of style!

Car horns drive me CRAZY! People use their horns as a “turn signal”, to announce that they are running a red light, or to yell, “Get the hell out of my way!” Heaven forbid if a taxi happens to hesitate for a fraction of a second when a light turns green because every car behind it will lay on their horn. The noise really irritates me because it seems to be the only sound of the city.  I am sure soon it will be music to my ears…

Let me tell you a little bit about the Chinese culture. Blatant honesty – they are rude, inconsiderate, and pretty dirty. I hate to sound so pessimistic and generalize but hear me out. I think the culture lacks a general common decency; like when two people are walking toward each other down a sidewalk, they each veer off to the side to avoid running into one another and to give the other person space. Here, if I didn’t move out of the way, that person would run straight in to me and not even blink about it. People do not hold doors open for one another, give up a seat on the subway to an elder, or offer any gesture of kindness. The other day I watched a girl struggle to get a door open with her arms full of groceries, while people shoved their way around her, nearly knocking her over. The next day, I saw a girl trip and fall near a crowd of people, and her bag of things went flying everywhere. Not a single person offered to help her; instead they just watched, laughed or ignored it.

Overall, I just feel like there is a total lack of respect for each other. For example, people do not wait in lines. No matter where I go, restaurants, the grocery store, or the subway, it is a contest for who can push or shove their way to the front first. It is like cattle herding and politeness would only get me run over and starving probably. The other morning, we were waiting for several minutes for a taxi to go to school. Just as one was pulling up, some guy comes out of nowhere and tries to get in our taxi. At first I was kind of appalled, but my survival kicked in and I shoved right along with the Courtneys to clam our taxi. And although it should not have been a fight (because it was rightfully ours), I still felt rude for shoving past him to get into the taxi.

Another huge thing that is really turning me off to the city is the lack of discretion for bodily functions – it is actually pretty disgusting. People spit and snot everywhere (especially this time of year), parents let their children poop and pee on the busy sidewalks, farting and burping is as natural/common as breathing, and I have witnessed several people puke in the middle of a crowd and continue with their day like it didn’t even happen. At school, bodily fluids are not a concern. Our school does not even keep protective gloves in stock, which makes for an interesting experience when it comes to changing a diaper or dealing with a bloody nose. In public bathrooms, people rarely flush toilets and they never throw toilet paper in the toilet so there are usually piles in the corners or an overflowing waste basket. However, you probably should not even get me started on public bathrooms…

In an effort to remain more “sanitary” in the most crowded place on Earth, the majority of Chinese public bathrooms are squatty potties as we like to call them. Although I was warned about squatty potties, you cannot imagine my surprise the first time I opened a stall door to find a hole in the ground. I have only had to use one once, and I am proud to announce that I was successful; however, I will avoid having to use a squatty potty at all cost. A lot of Western places have regular bathrooms, and sometimes if you are lucky, places will have some squatties and one regular toilet, but the majority of local places are all squatties. Additionally, a lot of public bathrooms don’t provide toilet paper so you better carry your own.

That is another thing that I learned pretty quickly – always carry a small pack of tissue. My first trip to the grocery store, my roommate handed me a Costco size pack of the small individual tissues and told me that I would need them more than anything. There are several reasons to carry tissue aside from the general use. First, toilet paper. Second, paper towel because if a bathroom does not have TP, they are sure to not have paper towel. Third, a napkin at a meal because most restaurants do not provide you with any kind of napkin (it is strange). Forth, for grabbing and holding on to things (doors, railings, or the subway).

OK, OK, now I don’t want you to think that my experience has been all negative… it actually has been very positive, even with all of the differences. I think at this point, I seem to just be focusing on all of the cultural differences that make me… uncomfortable (for lack of better description). Anyway, I will have much more to post soon.