That is a waaay more positive sentiment than it sounds; it's like that trite, I-was-depressed-because-I-my-ears-were-cold-until-I-met-a-man-who-had-no-head concept. See, I've come to realize that each distasteful reality I experience isn't really as bad as it could be, and eventually I will come across the more wretched possibility.
Here are three examples!
Staring
AT FIRST I was annoyed about the staring (no matter how prepared you are for it, if you end up in a place with a low foreigner frequency like Yancheng, it will be A MILLION times more ubiquitous and grating than you can imagine).
BUT THEN, about a week after I arrived, I met Samson -- one of two resident Africans (Kenya, specifically). Now it doesn't bother me because I know it must be sooooo much worse for him.
Fireworks, Firecrackers, Fire-Noisemakers-from-Hell
HAVE YOU ever lived next to construction? Did the constant bang! boom! bang! bang! boom! ever get to you? If not, then you are a lucky, lucky person, and you should send $20 tome "Happy Gal" in Yancheng, China, if you want your fortune to continue. If you do, then you understand my pain. (And you should probably send $20 to Happy Gal if you want your luck to turn around.) See, the Chinese like to set off noise-making explosives all! the! time! Literally. 9am, 1pm, 8pm, 2am, 4am; Monday through Sunday. And I'm not talking pretty, joyful fireworks, I'm talking simple, exploding firecrackers and shells powerful enough to set off car and motorbike alarms.
AAANYWAY, I was all about loathing the jarring thunder, until the first day of Chinese New Year, when I awoke to a HEART-ATTACK-CAUSING COMMOTION OF DISCORDANT EXPLOSIONS FROM DERANGED MORTAR SHELLS AND ROCKETS AND FIRECRACKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was unreal. I'm totally down with the fact that my city was merely trying to keep away a lion-monster, but I think I would have preferred risking being eaten to the several hours of the audio-nightmare I actually experienced.
To make a long story concluded, now I don't mind the intermittent firecrackers so much...
Getting My Attention
PERHAPS YOU are aware of the "Hello!" phenomenon; it is a close relative of the staring. "Hello" is the only word many Chinese non-English-speakers know, and because their social-courtesy norms are very different from ours, they will often say it at me, and then laugh as if they are so clever. It is extremely obnoxious.
AT LEAST, it was extremely obnoxious, until a few wonderful individuals decided to take it to the next level. See, sometimes people will persistently try to get my attention, to perform the hello-laugh routine. And on more than one occasion that persistence has manifested in the physical. I have been run into with shopping carts, as well as out-right hit :P .
Here are three examples!
Staring
AT FIRST I was annoyed about the staring (no matter how prepared you are for it, if you end up in a place with a low foreigner frequency like Yancheng, it will be A MILLION times more ubiquitous and grating than you can imagine).
BUT THEN, about a week after I arrived, I met Samson -- one of two resident Africans (Kenya, specifically). Now it doesn't bother me because I know it must be sooooo much worse for him.
Samson making a weird face.
Fireworks, Firecrackers, Fire-Noisemakers-from-Hell
HAVE YOU ever lived next to construction? Did the constant bang! boom! bang! bang! boom! ever get to you? If not, then you are a lucky, lucky person, and you should send $20 to
AAANYWAY, I was all about loathing the jarring thunder, until the first day of Chinese New Year, when I awoke to a HEART-ATTACK-CAUSING COMMOTION OF DISCORDANT EXPLOSIONS FROM DERANGED MORTAR SHELLS AND ROCKETS AND FIRECRACKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was unreal. I'm totally down with the fact that my city was merely trying to keep away a lion-monster, but I think I would have preferred risking being eaten to the several hours of the audio-nightmare I actually experienced.
To make a long story concluded, now I don't mind the intermittent firecrackers so much...
This is an audio-extraction from a video I took when I was sick and cranky. It's of some SUPER loud explosives from a nearby neighborhood; I talk near the end to give you a little volume comparison.
Getting My Attention
PERHAPS YOU are aware of the "Hello!" phenomenon; it is a close relative of the staring. "Hello" is the only word many Chinese non-English-speakers know, and because their social-courtesy norms are very different from ours, they will often say it at me, and then laugh as if they are so clever. It is extremely obnoxious.
AT LEAST, it was extremely obnoxious, until a few wonderful individuals decided to take it to the next level. See, sometimes people will persistently try to get my attention, to perform the hello-laugh routine. And on more than one occasion that persistence has manifested in the physical. I have been run into with shopping carts, as well as out-right hit :P .
I don't have a photo of me being physically assaulted, so here's something funny from the internets.
1 comment:
I LOVE CHINA!!!!
All Fireworks!
ALL the TIME!!!!
Post a Comment