In
China, whenever you need tissues, just go buy some Sprite. In one of their strange marketing bundles,
they will often pair up a packet of tissues with a 1.5 or 2 liter bottle of
Sprite. Or Pepsi, Miranda, etc. They’ll
also often throw in a box of tissues with a 10 or 12 pack of Moon Pies (or the
Chinese version of Moon Pies, that is).
Thus, I’ve never had to buy tissues on their own. The bundles with Sprite, Miranda, Pepsi, etc.
are actually fairly diverse. Besides
tissues, they’ll often throw in a pack of 5-6 paper cups; or a plastic or glass
larger drinking cup; or a varied-size bottle of some kind of juice.
Speaking
of tissues, for some reason most folks – and most all restaurants – will use
them in place of napkins. Fast food
places – both the Western and local ones – will generally still use napkins,
but in any sit down restaurant, and even among the locals at work, they will
often use tissue and/or toilet paper.
Frankly, I don’t understand it at all; you need to use significantly
more tissue when using it as a napkin as it is much less durable. It just seems wasteful. Not to mention that any decent, even
borderline lower end, restaurant will give each patron a little folded over,
small wallet-looking plastic thing with anywhere from 4-8 tissues in it to use
with your meal.
I
continue to struggle with “culture value judgments” – that is, trying to
rationalize in my mind that some of the judgments I make are “objectively
correct,” when, in fact, they may
simply be different cultural touchstones.
However, I’m still arrogant enough (hello, American cultural
touchstone!), to believe some of the things I’m bothered by here are, indeed,
objectively, “bad.” Some are harder to
rationalize. I leave my readers to be
the judge. Here are the three biggies:
1)
The
astonishing selfishness and “asshole” type behavior. I feel pretty safe in judging this as objectively
“bad” – even though it may, in fact, be culturally based. The way they push and fight (and I mean
FIGHT) to get on the subway/elevator/taxi first, the way they cut in line
despite the LOCALLY-based public postings to not do so/to be “civil,” etc. A good example of asshole behavior is an
intersection near my apartment. I live
on a fairly large/busy avenue. At the
intersections, there are four lanes; some are specifically designated “straight”
lanes – usually two in the middle – with one designated right turn lane and one
designated left turn lane. I’ve lost
count of the number of times some asshole, who is going straight, decides he
shouldn’t have to wait in one of the middle lanes with a longer line, and will
get in the right turn lane to get to the front and just sit there, despite the
right on green arrow (while the other two straight lanes are stopped). He/she will sit there through all the honking
horns behind, waiting for the straight arrow, so (s)he can then shoot out in
the intersection ahead of the cars to his/her left.
2)
The
public hawking, urination, and yes, albeit (thankfully) only occasionally,
shitting. Again, I feel safe in
objectively labeling this as “bad” – I don’t even feel I need to justify
this. Yes, again, you can look at this
as a cultural thing, but in my mind, there’s no excuse to justify this type of
behavior in the year 2013. You’d have to
be THE most shut away ignoramus to not know by now that not only is this
despicably socially unacceptable, but also violently unsanitary. Sure, go ahead and blame the fucking birds
and pigs for all the diseases that originate in China, but let’s not kid
ourselves: your disgusting habits of relieving yourself in public is a key
contributor to the lower health standards here.
What makes this particular thing even more appalling is their smug
insistence regarding what they “KNOW” to be “right” in terms of healthy
activities and things to avoid. Seriously,
don’t make me laugh.
3)
I
saved this one for last because I admit that, as much as it bothers me, it is
the one most open to “subjectivity.” And
this is their disgusting habit of chomping and slobbering their food, like a
cow chewing cud, as well as their habit of eating small (or even fairly large)
chunks of meat with bones in them, grinding away on said meat, and then
oh-so-indelicately spitting out the bone next to their plate – sometimes on a
napkin, sometimes not – or sometimes even ON their plate. Yes, I’ve heard their rationalization that eating this way makes food “more
flavorful” (sorry, I’ve tried it for that reason, and it’s bullshit – in fact, I’ve
found it to be the opposite: how can inhaling polluted air along with your food
make it taste better as opposed to “trapping” the flavors in your mouth with
your taste buds?), and/or that loudly “enjoying” your food is supposed to be a
way to show your “appreciation” to the cook.
Really? Would that be the cook in
the kitchen who can’t hear you? The “cook”
at the fast food place 3, 4, 12 blocks away who made your food? And here’s a news flash for you: there is a
much more civilized way to you’re your appreciation for your food: SAY
SOMETHING about it. After you’ve chewed
and swallowed your food, that is! Again,
I admit this one is borderline and could be considered a cultural thing I’m too
“judgmental” about, but honestly, in this day and age, how can you justify this
type of uncouth behavior? I welcome
arguments on this one! J
In
other news, I finally went and had a night of “significant” clubbing with some
folks from work. Because of holidays and
a schedule for us that included some “in-service days,” 4 of us had a Saturday
off and I decided to join them for a Friday night of bar-hopping. 2 Bacardi Breezers, 4 Vodka/Red Bulls, 3
Green Fairy shooters, one Mojito, and one Mango Daquiri later, it was 6am and I
felt I’d finally gotten a taste of the Guangzhou nightlife. It was fun.
Partly due to the combination of drinks, no doubt, and partly due to the
company, but it was a nice escape.
We
started at a semi-higher-end bar in the W hotel not too far from my
apartment. Good size, nice mix of music,
some pretty people to look at, etc. The
latter, admittedly, due in part to the fact that there were a fair amount of ex-pats (“sorry,”
I personally still don’t find most Asian men attractive – although there are,
of course, exceptions, and even a few notable ones). It seems that, on the whole, the Chinese are
not big “clubbers.” The ones we did see
were, disproportionately, overly drunk and/or passed out and/or belligerent
and/or sloppy and/or comically dressed.
Once
the hotel bar closed, we moved on to the “Party Pier” – a collection of
bars/clubs/
restaurants
just on the other side of the river from me, and where we pinballed between 2-3
other bars/clubs until the aforementioned 6am-run-home-before-the-sun-comes-up
hour. Sufficiently drunk by this point,
we met/chatted with a fair number of interesting characters – including an
entertaining Algerian boy who asked about my “Jew girlfriend” (that would be my
very non-Jewish, non-girlfriend Bex), and “made” me smoke a Chinese cigarette
(yes, I was THAT drunk), and who demanded that Nicky show him the ways of a “mature”
woman so he could learn a few things (Nicky, of course, was all too happy to
oblige – although she made him stew for a couple of nights to get him revved
up).
It
was interesting to see the mix of people; Guangzhou is definitely an “international”
city, and I recommend it to anyone wanting to get a glimpse of “modern China” –
esp. if you’re planning a trip to Hong Kong, which is just a two hour train
ride away.
Coming
next week: my “Jew girlfriend” is actually more frustrated by all the locals
who think she’s Russian, my experiences with the Chinese medical system, and
more!
