Things locals do that drive you insane.

I can rant on about Australian TV and to be honest, I do at times. Yes! I do turn off a lot of things and I tape shows so that I can fast forward the ads. Since I can't go to China, I like to hear about all of these things, particularly as It helps me to get some idea about the Chinese folk I meet at the Casino and how their lives are in their Country of origin etc; it helps me to better understand their behavior which often seems strange to me and to most Anglos that I speak to. No doubt I also have the same effect on them.   I am happy that folks can be honest about how they feel, but I guess some are better at expressing their views. No doubt this is the same in any culture. I have an Asian man who always seeks me out at the Casino to see how I am going. He doesn't speak any English except he can point at my machine and say "all right"? We work on hand signals and I have no idea what language he speaks. I am trying to find out though but have had no luck yet. I'm sorry ETR, but I don't share your views on the "whining central" aspect, but I can appreciate that we see things from a different perspective based on our life experiences. For example, I have observed changes in you as your experiences in China increase and no doubt the people close to you will see the same. Unfortunately, I know nothing much about China except what I hear from you folk. I like to hear both the pros and the cons. Thanks to all the folk who take the time to talk about their experiences.  

We all have different experiences in different cities and we are all in different stages of our China life. I have to go to the hospital once a week to get tests done. The hospital is the one place where I want to lose my mind and punch someone. Just once I would like to talk my doctor without someone rudely barging into my room to shout over me and try to cut their way past me.

ETR, I try not to share my frustration too much with Chinese friends but surely this a place where I can vent from time to time

As much as I hate spoilers and ruining some of the more amusing WTF moments for new arrivals, I guess this would be a good place to put a warning notice to newbies and a few old hands who may have erased a few memories while drinking counterfeit Chivas.

Those Walmarts (and other large grocery stores) in China are not like the ones you are used to.  There is NO method to weigh and ring up fresh fruits and veggies at the cash register.  If there isn't a bar code or price tag, look for a weigh table.  Just find the closest one.  If it's the wrong one, the pretty girl there will give you some completely bizarre directions, so just look where she points and you'll get to the right one.  If that fails, go back and look totally lost and confused and the pretty girl will take you to the right table.

Beware of crowded weigh tables.  That sweet little old lady who reminds you of your grandma will shove her veggies in underneath yours as you are setting them on the scale if she thinks she can get away with it.  Consider it to be an abject lesson in how Chinese wives are more competitive than your average olympic athlete.

 Things locals do that drive you insane.
OK. I took this to mean "insane"..not "angry". I encountered many things that drove me crazy, but nothing that made  me mad. The "insanity" in China usually made me laugh. Crazy things happen here, you can't avoid it, so just lay back and enjoy it. No good getting upset about it.

EL - great examples. The weigh tables. I've been working on my patience level lately, and that is one true test area.

One that occurred to me last night while I was driving home: police cars that drive around with their BRIGHT RED and BLUE flashing lights on for no discernable reason. I was behind one at the stop light. It HURT my eyes. I eventually put down my sun visor, even though it was 9:30 p.m. and there was no sun. Where I come from, flashing lights mean emergency and cars are supposed to pull over and let the emergency vehicle pass. I really don't know what it means here. This guy was in no particular hurry to go anywhere. My luck - he turned into my little side street so I got to follow him even longer. He stopped by the convenience store and his buddy (not dressed in a cop uniform) hopped out. Flashing lights went on his way.

Maybe it was an important beer run.

Don't let the new people know about the police leaving their lights on.  The utter panic a newbie feels the first time a police car pulls up behind the taxi he or she is riding in is an experience everyone needs to have (got mine during my first week in China ).
 

The Chinese Police only use lights when absolutely necessary.
E.G, my copper bro-in-law drove me home one night, and needed to go the wrong way up a one way street, to conserve PRC fuel resources. So he used his red and blue lights. Obvious.

Those can be turned off?

ive just walked back for a coffee from class. On the way i saw 3 aieees with 3 little children. one of the kids was pulling on a bit of string which was tied to a sparrows foot. the bird squealing in agony as this toddler swung it around.

not sure how i feel about it, but it didnt seem right.

I remember as a kid with a .22 airgun shooting at birds in the back garden. my mother came out furious and asked why i was being so cruel, i replied i wasnt killing them, i was aiming for their legs.    So i guess i cant be too judgemental.

I'd have ended up in trouble over that one Fox.   Someone, perhaps more than one, probably would have ended up with string around their throat.   We had slug guns as kids and the .22's were only used for shooting rabbits for food.   When one is a child, one thinks as a child etc, so In your shoes, I would have been after the supervising adults.

At least they didn't show the part where she looks at her finger after all that diggin'.

'Nuff said.

http://b98.photo.store.qq.com/psb?/V11YB7ei4Qay4m/JVaiUztJ9BeWld375wPS2tR0Jic1SxB0sYwdD3trSrs!/b/YT7OcjoFVwAAYpm6bDpHRgAA

In the interests of fairness it needs to be pointed out that many Chinese find the behaviours listed in the above posts as amusing/bizarre/repugnant as we obviously do. Especially those who, my wife being an example, have lived in a Western country for some time. Many Chinese are embarrassed by their fellows who, it must be pointed out, are often ill educated and but a generation removed from a village without running water and electricity.

With the boot on the other foot, she points out many instances of behaviour that wouldn't be tolerated in China. Drag racing and burnouts in public streets. People who belong in institutions - both criminal and mental - being allowed to live in the community, and terrorising their neighbours. How many on this board have been physically threatened or assaulted in China? I've walked city streets from Shanghai to Urumqi without once feeling in danger. You couldn't say the same for parts of most Western cities.....and its not down to superior Chinese law enforcement either.

So I find it ironic, and a little sad, that this thread is so popular. And yes, my hypocritical posts can probably be found on an earlier page.

The thread is so popular because we're living in an alien environment.  Grab a Chinese guy and drop him somewhere in one of those silly English speaking countries that most of us come from and he'll have his own share of WTF?!? moments, some of which will be accompanied by the urge to smack some sense into the locals.

"Grab a Chinese guy and drop him somewhere in one of those silly English speaking countries that most of us come from and he'll have his own share of WTF?!? moments, some of which will be accompanied by the urge to smack some sense into the locals."
As one who works extensively with Chinese students, and the broader Chinese community in Australia, I don't agree with this. Chinese here tend to work hard, mind their own business and keep their opinions to themselves. Maybe they're too busy to gripe about trivialities which help establish and perpetuate stereotypes. Please note I am talking about people who have made huge lifestyle decisions, and very expensive ones too. Most have burned their bridges and are committed to a new life in a new country. Not many posters on expat forums are in that boat: sorry about the mix of metaphors.

Anyhow, that was not the main point of my previous post. People are not looking at what they are criticising or ridiculing in a full social context.

The megaphones in front of street stalls yelling the same five words over and over ALL day long.

Drivers continuously sounding their horns at NOTHING.

Hallllooooo's

Spitting on the floor in CARPETED restaurants.

Firecrackers at 6am

The old lady who sells dyed red and green chicks in a dirty little box outside my school.

Chinese opera music at ridiculous volumes being played from the shop downstairs starting at 7am on a Sunday morning and continuing ALL day.