外国人 (Foreigners)

Before I get into today's post, can I just say, if you haven't had your weekly dose of Doctor Who, then STOP READING MY BLOG AND HEAD IMMEDIATELY THE QUICKEST ONLINE MOVIE WEBSITE AND WATCH IT. SUCH A GOOD SHOW. I just finished watching the most recent episode, and it was so amazing. I can't get over how much I love it. So. If you don't watch it, well, better late than never. START START START. You will not regret it. And if you do... Well, then I suppose there is just no help for you.

Foreigners. What do you think when I say that? Depending on where you are, your answer might be different. Maybe you think of someone with a different skin color. Maybe you think of someone with a different idea than you. And maybe you think of something completely different. Only you know. But think about it. So much of the time, we try to be politically correct, and not think about differences, and instead think about what brings us together. Don't get me wrong, that is good as well, but sometimes, it's good to think about your surroundings, and who you spend your days around. Foreigners. What do you think?

Foreigners. I am in China right now, so my opinion is probably completely different from yours. But when I hear that word, I think white people. I think about people who speak English, French, German, Russian, anything that is not Chinese (or some dialect therein). I think about people who haven't grown up here, who look around them with the wide eyed wonder that is normally only found in small children. I think about the people who walk down the street with earbuds in their ears, blasting music. I think about people who wear sunglasses, and give other foreigners the evil eye when walking down the street. Does that match what you thought?

I've been giving a lot of thought to the idea of foreigners over the past couple of weeks. Mostly because while I am in China, I am a foreigner. I don't fit in with most of the other people in this country. So what sets foreigners apart? Well, lets first discuss the obvious. First and foremost, language. Don't be under any illusions, Chinese is an extremely difficult language to master. It is impossible to be fluent, you can just get to a point where class rooms can no longer teach you things. Secondly, for most of us, skin color and hair color. Gasp! I said those naughty words! Skin color. What a touchy subject in America. But it's true. Here, my skin tone automatically sets me apart, and draws stares on the street. Why? Chinese think that white skin is beautiful, and it is different from them. Well, those are the big 3 reasons. Now lets get down to the not so obvious reasons.

Most of these reasons come from behavior patterns, and a cultural difference. Firstly, the majority of foreign women, if they are used to wearing shorts or skirts, shave their legs and armpits. The majority of Chinese women? Not so much. A lot do, of course, but nearly as large a percentage as that of foreign women. Clothes set us apart as well. The large majority of Chinese people wear fairly conservative clothes. Foreigners... Well, you know. I don't need to tell you about that.

Personality is another biggy. When I walk down the street, and encounter another foreigner, I can guarantee that I will either not be acknowledged, laughed at, or given the shit look. The not being acknowledged is a testament to the idea that the other foreigner is way too cool and independent to have to resort to smiling and strange foreigners on the street. Laughed at? Testament to the fact that the other foreigner thinks that they have much more China knowledge than I do, and that therefore they know better than me, and pity me. And the shit look? Easy. Translation: "This is my country bitch, get out." For some reason, foreigners get very protective of China, and of their normal haunts, and it is not at all welcome to see another foreigner there. Why do I know all of this? 1) because I am a foreigner and 2) I may or may not be guilty of most of these things as well.

I have found that most foreigners in Beijing are either extremely intense, or extremely edgy. China has a way of screwing with your head. In a good way though. It's a test. Can you stand up the pressure? Only China will tell. There are a lot of foreigners here who become extremely paranoid, always watching their money bags and personal belongings, convinced they have to guard against an entire country, all of whom are trying to steal from them (which is of course, completely ridiculous.) These foreigners also tend to have a tired and frazzled look on their face all the time. Easy to spot, believe me. That used to be me.

The other category? Intense foreigners. The ones who are convinced that they have shed their Western bonds and become Chinese themselves. They KNOW that they know better than you, and will take every opportunity to prove it.

Is that enough broad generalizations for you? These are just my own ideas, something that I was thinking about as I walked down the street. There are a lot of foreigners in my area, so I have a lot of time to think about it. Of course, I am a foreigner myself, and I am no better than the rest of them. Don't think I am being hypocritical, I group myself in amongst all of those foreigners that I just criticized. I'm not naive enough to think that I am the one perfect foreigner in Beijing. I know that I also have a superior attitude sometimes, but I am trying to get rid of it. Hey, I never said that I was perfect.

Okay, I'll stop with the bad generalizations, and give you a glimpse into my life today. The overall theme? Exhaustion. What is it about Monday that makes one tired? No matter how much sleep you get the night before, you are always going to be tired. My friend Kirie described it perfectly. "I feel like I am jet lagged from the weekend. I have to get used to waking up early, and going to bed early during the week, and then doing the opposite on the weekend. It's exhausting."

So the challenge of today was just to keep my eyes open, and try my hardest to answer the questions. It was not easy thought. This morning, during the first class, my teacher would ask me questions, and it would take me a couple of moments to answer, while my brain sluggishly tried to process the question. I wasn't fooling anybody. Actually, our entire class was like this. Even the teacher said that she didn't like Mondays. Who can blame her?

I think that she knew that I was particularly tired (maybe someone put a stamp on my face) because she didn't ask me nearly as many questions as she asked the other students though. She has done this in the past though. I can't tell if it is because I was so tired, or because she doesn't like me. More tests will be required before I can come to a conclusion.

Class dragged by for most of the day, and then for the rest of it, I stayed inside, and studied. I am desperately trying to get on top of my workload. I can get all of it done, but I just can't remember the English meaning of my new words. This is going to come back to bite me in the ass sooner rather than later, but so far, so good. I think that our teachers know that we can't remember anything, because they really don't test us on the meanings. Except when a word comes up in the text. And then I just hope against hope that I can decipher the meaning from the surrounding words.

Well my loves, I think that that is a long enough post for today. I really didn't do a whole lot today, because I was way too tired. I will have more good stories tomorrow. It's a gym day tomorrow! Prepare yourselves.

P.S. My back was so sore today that I couldn't wear my backpack. I think that next time someone says that I have too much trash in my body, I will just use a loofa.

As always, questions and comments.