First Impressions

First Impressions:

I am working hard not to make a judgment on a culture and people based on the limited experiences I’ve had so far. That being said there are some traits that the Chinese have that I can say without much questions I am not judging prematurely.

The Chinese people don’t know how to wait their turn. From the minute we landed in Beijing I was getting pushed. I think it is safe to say that most people have flown before at some point in time and know that when the plane lands you wait until it has stopped to begin to gather your bags and deplane. In doing so you wait until it’s your rows turn to begin to exit. This was not the case when we landed in Beijing.

In my section of the plane there were 99 seats (yes I counted) and out of the 99 people in my section 7 were western (this was the last time I’d see 7 Americans all in the same place for the next few days). As soon as our plane touched down in Beijing 4 Chinese men on the plane started to stand up much to the dismay of the flight attendants that started to scream at them in my cabin to sit down. Once the plane finally did stop the stampede started toward the door. I stood up from my aisle seat and was pushed and shoved sideways so that the people behind me could get closer to the front door before I could even open the overhead compartment (welcome to China). This lasted just long enough for me to realize that unless I stopped someone I was going to end up face down, I lowered my shoulder as a Chinese man tried to pass me and he stopped dead in his tracks, I was free to get my bags.

The subway system is the cheapest and fastest way to maneuver around Beijing. There are a number of interweaving lines like any big city in the states and doesn’t feel or seem much different than any system stateside other than the method of loading and unloading. You would think that people would realize that the fastest and safest thing to do would be to allow people to get off the train before attempting to board the train, this doesn’t happen at a busy subway station (the less crowded stations are fine). Instead it is mass chaos, people pushing and shoving (once again) in an attempt to get on or off the train. Yesterday we were going to Tienanmen Square and while boarding the train I watched a woman (who was trying to get off the train) literally carried onto the train as the crowd moved her like a pebble in the ocean. Thankfully being six foot one in China gives me some advantages when it comes to crowd control. Don’t worry mom if you come visit we’ll take taxis so I don’t lose you.

For the first time in my life I’m learning what it is like to be a minority and to a certain degree racially profiled. By no means is it all negative or positive more of a mix bag of results and in some places I’ve been surprised by peoples reaction to us. We have met some people here that love us for the novelty of being American, having facial hair, blue eyes, our height, etc. Yesterday outside the Forbidden City we had girls coming up to ask to have their picture taken with us like we were some kind of celebrities from speaking with other American’s in China this is very common and something we’ll have to get used to. When we were entering Tienanmen square the Army is searching people and their belongs before they are allowed to enter the square we were standing in line when one of the officers pulled us out of line and allowed us to pass without patting any of us down. These are some of the times when being a foreigner has been positive. There have been the negative.

We’ve seen people tell us at restaurants there isn’t room when there clearly is and walk up Chinese people have been seated before and after us without hesitation. Thankfully Ted can speak the language and has called out the hostesses and managers for this practice and we’ve been able to get seated after some brief arguments. We’ve also seen this with cab drivers where they will drive past us and pick up a group of Chinese people 20 yards farther down or where a cab driver will repeatedly say he doesn’t know where we are going until he realizes that we aren’t going to get out of the cab and drives us to our desired location with ease. Then there are the looks, stares, and the comments people make (I don’t know what they mean so some may be positive and some negative) at times you can tell it’s because people here don’t see westerners frequently and at times you can tell they are not happy we are here and there is some hostility towards us. Overall I think the Chinese people are excited that we are here and enjoy seeing outsiders especially after decades of isolation.

Random Observation:

It's okay to do a snot rocket in public. We've seen countless people do this but none better than a 4 foot tall grandmother while walking down the street only a few blocks from the Olympic stadium. Apparently tissues aren't a common item in China.

The pictures I posted are from just outside the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square.

The tall guy in the picture with me is Ted.

The picture in front of the Monument to the Peoples Hero from left to right is Ted, Cooper and Dirk.

The Picture in the snow has Jon and Jen as well as the other guys. It's been snowing for two days now have about a foot on the ground and its probably the only time I'll ever see Beijing quiet. Very peaceful actually.

You will probably notice that we will all be wearing pretty much the exact same thing but trust me we are changing its just so cold all you're going to see is jackets hats and gloves.