One thing you'll notice as a foreigner in China (or at least in this part of China, Hangzhou) is that the Chinese like to stare. They stare at anything remotely different, interesting, or cute. And they especially like to stare at foreigners, or Laowai. The younger Chinese people will sometimes say "Hello!" as you're walking down the street, and laugh if/when you answer back. The older ones will just stare quietly and, in my experience, are less likely to smile or greet you. These aren't rude stares, they're merely curious stares that may lead to conversation about my origins (meiguoren (American), I say, pointing to myself).
It's interesting, coming from a place where so many different people live and work together to Hangzhou, where I usually don't see more than 10 foreigners in a single day of walking about, unless I head to an ex-pat cafe or bar like the vineyard.
...
You know you've been in Hangzhou for two weeks when:
-You’re still surprised everytime you see a laowai (foreigner)
-You’re used to the staring
-You’ve find your way past the Great Firewall
-If you have bad Chinese, you stick to ordering street food by pointing or going to Starbucks or McDonald’
-You know which busses take you home and which take you where you need to go (for the most part) but when someone throws a new bus into your system you can’t figure out where to catch it
-You’ve learned bartering vocabulary
2 comments:
Hahahahahaha I am of the opinion that buses are just confusing in general, so good luck with that! And with the food... Have you tried any of the weird local stuff? Also, bucket list for your China trip?? :) (Bucket lists are fun)
<3 -Aly
I've tried century egg, it's like weird jellied egg that's black and gray. it just tasted like egg. i also tried frog. but nothing too weird like chicken feet or duck tongue or crab on a stick.
also, bucket list is upcoming!
Post a Comment