Comments on: You buying the Angry Expat Ideology?

By: simple

simple — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:10:07 +0000

there was interesting point of view of this one who name Vern.
Vern says:
November 11, 2008 at 7:03 am
“a foreigner who – despite choosing to live here – does nothing but complain about China.”

Uh, there’s your problem, buddy. A ton of expats *don’t* choose to be in China, they get transferred here. Sure, they could turn down the transfer, but the career penalties would be too great. So they order KFC and Pizza Hut every day for lunch, and suffer until their 2-3 years in China are over.
There needs to be a new blog post, “angry halfpats come to terms with self-hating anger against other foreigners who make much more money and have a better life than us”

Here is my thoughts for this Vern, since he mentioned about “make much more money”, they could turn down the transfer , cause money isn’t everything, angry everyday is not healthy ? better go home.

By: Alberto P

Alberto P — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:46:56 +0000

I’m so sorry to read this piece. I mean, usually you’re okay.

But man this really feels like a my-friends-are-better-than-yours plus sissy attitude.
Come on, people, there is nothing wrong with etnocentrism. It keeps us sane and away from oversensitivity (read: being sissy).

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 03:33:06 +0000

Hi Beverly, and welcome to the site. Am entirely envious of anyone who can call Hawaii home. I dig the “live aloha” concept.

By: Beverly

Beverly — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 23:56:18 +0000

Wow!!Interesting blog!!I’ve only visited mainland China, when it first opened up in 1980, and I liked the people. I’m not of Chinese descent, I’m Caucasian, but at that time I was married to a man of Chinese ancestry. People stared at us, but smiled and were very curious and friendly. His grandmother and her family seemed very accepting of me.
I lived in Taipei in 1983, for several months, learning Mandarin and I did some tutoring in English. Those months were some of the happiest of my life. I was almost treated like a celebrity and the people were almost always very polite and always friendly. My husband wanted to return to the States, but I was content to stay for a few years.
I now live in Hawaii, without the former husband, and I can always tell the people who were raised in very large cities. They are always the rudest, whether Chinese, white or otherwise. After people live in Honolulu and environs for several years, they begin to relax and act like human beings again, learning the much more laid back and friendly local ways.
In Hawaii, we say, “Live aloha!” In other words, treat other people the way you’d like to be treated and don’t take the s##t at all personally.

By: me (not you)

me (not you) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:13:10 +0000

After living in China for 11 years I can honestly say that I liked it a lot more when I didn’t understand anything that was being said.
Now that I speak, read and write excellent Mandarin my eyes have opened to exactly HOW ignorant and unpleasant these people are.
I’m going back to my country to live with people who don’t shit in the street like dogs.

By: Dylan

Dylan — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:34:21 +0000

Wow, “too long in China”, you are pretty much the only person on this page, including the original poster that had anything of value to say. I especially love hearing someone other than myself compare modern China to Dickensian England. There’s no better comparison.

By: too long in China

too long in China — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:40:43 +0000

I was an angry expat. I lived in China for six years, I speak the language well and about eight months ago I returned to New York. And I feel like I have been going through decompression ever since I returned to the US. Every day I am calmer and more relaxed. And I am in New York! Of course there is the whole culture shock and openness to other cultures thing, and some people arent open. But in the case of China, it is a really hard place. Most Chinese people are in survival mode, their level of emotional and psychological development is something similar to maybe what our great grand parents level might have been after surviving the great war. These people are coming from a terribly cruel fuedal society into a chaotic 50 years of orwellian style communism, with persecution interlaced with starvation not to mention the cultural revolution. Then you have economic reform and everyone is eating at KFC and going to Starbucks and we expect people to act like Westerners with a mentality of openness, exploration, self development, awareness. And the Chinese, meanwhile are more or less in basic survival mode a la Dickensian England or something. The truth is, China is a very very difficult place. It’s not fun. Its not a mysterious Eastern culture. Its a deeply traumatized and confused post feudal post orwellian lawless free for all. So it is understandable that Westerners get pissed, get angry. Because we cant find the China we came to find. So what we need to do is be understanding of China’s trauma and also be true to ourselves and realize, this is a harsh place, with a deeply conflicted and traumatized population that is still struggling for survival. This is not a place to really kick back and have a good time and integrate. It aint France or Italy or even Thailand. I think the right decision, for many of us, after experiencing the place, is to leave. Because it is hard to be happy in a place where even the natives are desperate to get out. So while I agree that foreigners should always try to be open to different cultures that they live in, and they of courese should learn the language, at the same time, you have to keep in mind, China is no Disneyland. And the Chinese are equally as angry and frustrated as the foreigners, perhaps more so.

By: A foreigner’s perspective with Steven Weathers | Lost Laowai China Blog

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:34:18 +0000

[...] Recently on Lost Laowai we talked about the idea of the “Angry Expat“, or foreigners who seem to have a very hard time integrating into their lives here in China [...]

By: Jingo

Jingo — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:38:09 +0000

After reading this, I just recall how our Chinese who study or live in the UK were gethering together and complain about the British. (For example the behavior of the Chavs.) And many of my former classmates and friends chose to go back to China the minutes they graduate.

I guess it is just common when people come to live in a very different culture, to complain about the cultural difference that shocked you is much easier than to adapt ourselves to it.

Also when you are away from home, you compare the place you live to your sweet home constantly, and it is often the bad/unexpect experience vs. the great home experience. For my own experience, I didn’t start to realise I was not live amoung aliens but same human beings like my Chinese fellows until the third year.

And China is after all a developing country with super huge under-educated population despite the “Rising China” news story. For your westeners there must be tons of things to be complain about which even our Chinese also found ridiculous or disatisfied about.

Anyway, no matter which country you came from and where you went, living in a foreign country for more than six months is not easy for anyone. Good luck everyone and have a happier life in China where I can’t wait to go back to in two months.

By: Liz

Liz — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:25:21 +0000

I’m sometimes an angry expat, for a different reason. I’m Canadian of Chinese descent, with an upper intermediate level of Mandarin. From experience, it seems that overseas Chinese get the worst treatment of all. Sure, I may not get ripped off as much in local markets, or stared at in small towns, but I frequently come across locals who give me weird looks or criticize me for not being fluent, or being able to understand their accents. If they ask where I’m from and I say Canada, some will argue and say rudely “You look Chinese. You’re Chinese first before you’re Canadian.” It doesn’t help that my partner is white, and everywhere we go I get “oh, you’re THAT kind of Chinese girl” stare, from both locals and expats.

And I agree with the commenter above who said there are habits that are just plain rudeness rather than cultural. People in Hong Kong and Taiwan are also of Chinese descent, but very few people there blatantly cut people in line, rush into a subway car without letting others off, spit on the ground, etc. Other Chinese find this behavior reprehensible, especially when, for instance, they’re the ones getting shoved as subway passengers storm in.

I don’t think most Chinese are drones, and many are wonderful once you establish a relationship. But in order to become the developed country that China wants to be, the chaos, rudeness, and behavior towards others (laowai, Chinese-looking laowai, fellow locals who are not friends and family) has to change.