...Because You're American

---

"...Because you're American". That's what my classmate was told by a cab driver who refused to give her and some friends a ride a week ago. I learned about her story today, after I was telling her my own cab problems I experienced today. I must admit, I've known that people here are not as friendly and out-going toward foreigners as in Taiwan, but I hadn't noticed until today how far people went to avoid us. I was trying to hail a taxi today to get to a show (a theatrical show required for my culture studies class) and I was unable to get one. One taxi pulled over, looked at me, and then pulled away. Other people standing around me got taxis, but not me. How I missed these prejudice moments before, I'm not sure, but I ended up taking the subway to a more modern part of town (and more familiar with foreigners) to catch a cab.

And, talking about cultural differences, my mother was asking me this morning about dining here in China, so I think it'd be good to talk about that for a bit. Dining here depends on where you eat. There are small family 'restaurants', where you pay first and gather your meal when your number is called, and then find somewhere to sit. Then there are actual restaurant-type places. You sit, order, then pay. Generally though, when you order, you receive only one menu to share for the whole table. Then the waitress stands there until you've placed your order. I must admit, this system of ordering confuses me a bit. I feel as though the waitresses' time would be less wasted if we had more than one menu to crowd around, and she didn't have to stand there until we made a decision...But I digress. Another major difference is the manner of eating. Chopsticks, definitely. Napkins, only if you bring your own. Your own plate? Not really. 'Family style' is how most people eat here. Dishes are shared. At big tables, Lazy Susan's are commonplace. So, when eating family style, you cannot hoard any single dish, you have to share. It's like being back in kindergarten and learning to play well with other children. So, if you have a preference for what kind of food is ordered (ie-nothing spicy!) then you need to make sure your preference is heard and you get a dish or two that isn't spicy.

Now that I have some cultural stuff out of the way (feel free to ask me any other cultural questions and I'll answer them next time), I'll wrap up my week. This week was pretty busy for me. On Thursday, I had dinner with my two teachers. Three of the six students showed up (myself included) and our two teachers made five. So, it was a bit awkward at first, not being about to talk about much because of our limited vocabularies. But once someone brought up the topic of American tv shows (which the people here LOVE), conversation picked up. One of my teachers LOVES 24, while my other teacher agrees with me, that only the first two seasons were good. Also, I had no idea, but Prison Break is very popular here because of the good looking actors in it. (PS, the Chinese fan-base is about 95% female). My teachers also got me to try frog, which not surprisingly, tastes like chicken...Or so I think. It was too spicy for me, so I didn't get a good taste.

On Friday, I went to a dumpling making class at a cultural center somewhere nearby. It was a bit disappointing, because everything was prepped, so there wasn't anything to do but fold the dumplings. But, they didn't explain how to do that. They did an example for us, but that was it. So, as you can see in the pictures, the results were not pretty.

On Saturday, I went with my friends Joe and Jeff to the Fake Market and Fabric Market...Well, one of them. There's several of both markets throughout the city. At the Fake Market, all the shop-owners stand there and say "Hey Lady, hey Sir, come in come in, real cheap. Hallo!" Or something like that in English. It's a bit intimidating and hard to just look around when they all want you to buy, buy, buy. Right now! I ended up getting a Le Sportsac duffel bag for my upcoming week-long trip (March 20-28). The fabric market, or at least the one I went to, was disappointing and not at all what I expected. But, nonetheless, if you want cheap tailoring, that's the place to get it. After the markets, we wandered above ground to downtown Shanghai. THIS is the Shanghai China wants you to see, but definitely not the Shanghai I live in. It was clean(er) and open. It was very refreshing. We went to the Pearl Tower (see pictures) and walked around. We also had donuts and dumplings which, not surprisingly, don't compliment each other very well.

One last note, the weather here the last three days has been great! And by great, I mean it hasn't rained. At least for the moment, Spring is in the air. The city has started coming to life. There are more street vendors everywhere, and more foot traffic. Everyone is doing Spring cleaning, and every available surface with drying-potential is covered with drying laundry.

...Ok, I lied. I have more. So, in the pictures below, there's one with me standing in front of a blue gumby-like figure. This figure is all over the more developed parts of Shanghai. He is the mascot for the 2010 expo, where Shanghai hopes to reveal a cohesively developed and modern Shanghai. There's even an exhibit with a full scale-model of how Shanghai 'looks' now, and how it should look in 2010. I'm not sure where the creators of this better Shanghai live, but they certainly don't live in Shanghai. It's very idealistic, and very far from realistic. I haven't seen the exhibit, but I've seen my roommate's pictures of it. Not only that, but looking out from the Pearl Tower, there was construction everywhere. The Pearl Tower is located in the 'metropolis' downtown, yet it's very far from being renewed. Shanghai is an incredible city of contradictions. The city is so unevenly developed that city block by city block, development differences are staggering. It's also incredible to be able to see this city grow up around me while huge parts of Shanghai hold onto a pre-metropolis vibe.

PS-If you haven't already, subscribing to my blog makes your life easier! Every time I update, you'll receive an email. That way, you don't have to continuously check my page (because I know you're all so eager for more)!

---

Photos

Science and Technology Center
...Underneath lies a massive Fake Market

Century Park
The part of Shanghai I wish I lived in

Pregnant People With Disease Not OK
...But non-diseased pregnant people OK.

Comments

[DAD]

Great pics
Meg the pictures,and also your continuing commentary have been most entertaining.Keep on clicking.(and oh by the way_keep on studying.

[NYCkid]

it's a misunderstanding
poor girl...i think the reason why the cab driver tried to avoid u is because he has no confidence in either his English or your Chinese. Most Chinese cab drivers are from countryside, who speak no English. Some of them even have had bad experiences with foreign tourists/Americans because of misunderstanding. Who would imagine a random young white girl can speak fluent Chinese in a SH street? Trust me, Chinese ppl are among the most courteous (at least to westerners). The only problem is the language barrier.

[Nutmeg]

Perhaps...
...Or perhaps not. I read your comment a week ago and I've spent the last week thinking about it. For the last week, I've tried to see every such-occurrence as just a misunderstanding...but sadly, the language barrier does not explain away all these occurrences. It can cover a lot, but not everything, like the story I told about my friend. The fact is, one traveling abroad must also deal stereotypes and misconceptions (especially Americans). Shanghai is a big, crowded city, and many people here just don't care about foreigners learning Chinese. Now you trust me, I know that Chinese people can be the most courteous, but that's a huge generalization. There are also Chinese who are not that courteous toward foreigners. Now, my most positive experience with courteous Chinese people was in Taiwan, where Taiwanese will literally invite you over to eat at their house or drive you to a destination when you get lost. And don't get me wrong, I've met some really fantastic Shanghai residents here! Shanghai is great and I refuse to let a couple of bad experiences ruin my time here. But I'm also not naive enough to think that the language barrier is completely to blame.