It's not so much culture shock we experience here. Rather, it's a series of disconnects, where understanding of the other's meaning breaks down. The language barrier is a problem, but the problem is more than language. The Chinese can be speaking their version ofEnglish, and I'll still miss the point. As earlier noted, my developing Chinese is hard for folks here to understand.
Yesterday, they paid me my stipend in the form of a savings passbook. (I still get an ETSU salary.) I was told I should change my initial password when I got to the bank. Then, the official told me my password: "six eight." Naturally, I wrote down "68." Fortunately, she saw what I'd written and pointed out my error. "six eight" actually means 888,888. Go figure.
It's this way with a lot of things. I needed to purchase tickets for a trip Joe and I are taking when he comes. Now, I'm able to buy soap at the market on my own, but no way could I have purchased airline tickets for a trip to Xihan. There were numerous Chines forms, and I had to show my passport. It was unbelievably confusing. Fortunately, James Zhang, whom some of you remember from his time, at ETSU was on hand to help me.
Above: James negotiating with the ticket office. Below: a glorious day at Weihai's seaside park.
2 comments:
Roz, please say hello to James for me. And keep up the great work on your blog!
Look at that, the sky is blue everwhere....I guess, after all, we all belong on this small planet..ditto Michael, good Blog Roz.
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