Sink Beneath the Surface

When a Westerner first arrives in China, it is not difficult to mistake it for America with a disproportionate amount of black hair and brown eyes. People wear typical Western clothing. Western restaurants abound, especially Tex-Mex places. Many people have a good command of the English language. Everyone knows about the NBA and the NCAA (in fact, they most likely know more than you do, and in my case, they absolutely do). However, once you spend a little time in the country, you realize that almost everything distinguishes it from America. Of course, the most obvious difference is the language they speak everyday and the food they eat, so I won’t even take that into account. But the subtleties, the little details, differ so dramatically from America that it is hard now to look at the two countries in a similar light. Even though the clothes look similar, it’s how they wear them that distinguishes them. The women wear extra-long skinny jeans with four-inch heels, with the pant leg pulled so low over the shoe that only the part closest to the ground is visible. The only kind of maternity clothing pregnant women wear is overalls. Babies don’t wear diapers, just these strange pants missing a rather large area in the back. China makes itself apparent in the rules of social interaction – not a lot of smiling and laughing in public. Emotions are private things, meant to be kept within the confines of the home. People don’t go running or eat in public. If you buy a bottle of water and don’t offer to buy your Chinese friend one, he or she will think you don’t care about your friendship. You are supposed to argue over the bill – everyone wants to pay. In conclusion, I can no longer look at the country as I once did. Spending time here has forever altered my perspective. However, it took me a long time to discover all these tiny little details; I had to sink below the surface instead of just skimming the top.