We must conduct time series analysis. Perhaps the above indicator is not representative:

Lately, the average interaction has been: “So, you’re an American? You know, Obama is the first black president.”

I tend to humor these things, with something to the effect of “Yeah, it’s great. I’m really proud of my country.” After the next (ninety-seventh or so) iteration though, snark will likely overtake patience, and the immediate response is going to be along the lines of: “Wait, WHAT!? No. He’s not black at all. He’s actually Latino-Mexican-Indo-Indian.” Any other suggestions?

HHR links to a post by a Swede* living in China, regarding foreigners’ horrendous behavior towards locals. You do see white people behaving like complete morons quite often, though some of the behaviors she points to (shouting “Waitress!” in restaurants) are perfectly in line with local norms. Of course there is always a question of perception – and whether or not we’re getting the practices right, with all of the nuance (what nuance is there in shouting across a restaurant? I don’t know – that’s why it’s nuanced).  

It is very, very easy to be filled with a sense of alienation in interactions. Simply because of this, my own modus operandi is to err on the side of excessive politeness so that when I am actually being a jerk it might come off as quaint. But that got me wondering – is my insistence on Western ways while here a form of condemnation?

By refusing to yell at waitresses, and flagging them down with hand motions (eye contact, not so useful); insisting on lining up in a queue no matter what sort of aggressive mob is pushing, or shrugging off every friendly / rude utterance of “HELLO!” with a smiled 你好 – all of which are minor issues of no real consequence other than one’s patience. Does doing so however imply a judgement? I’m personally more comfortable, and don’t feel like the behavior is causing any harm.

The really sticky ones are when you see people arguing or fighting in public (often a young man and a woman – it’s much more physical than I’m used to, involving lots of strong pulling). I’ve seen this particular scenario three times now, in each instance the situation was entirely ignored by other Chinese. Each time I stayed back and just watched, fearing escalation between the two. I had been previously informed that it’s very dangerous to get involved in domestic disputes of any sort given the risk of the man losing face, and calling his crew in to beat some local knowledge into you. It seems like a question of degree – if someone were being hit, the urge to interfere would be much greater. My own opinion is that cultural relativism should be thrown out when physical safety is involved – and the amazing fact that interfering in local disputes would fulfill another uniquely modern-American stereotype…

After inquiring about what should be done in this circumstance, I was informed that such scenes are fairly common, and usually result “from a girl who wants attention from her boyfriend / husband. The best way to get it is to make a big scene in public so that he risks losing face.”

Still, the everyday behavior of foreigners living here is often embarrassing. There’s no excusable reason for it, even “that’s how the locals do it” – chances are you’re doing it wrong. In contrast, maintaining your own peoples’ courteous habits is also a way of demonstrating to people here what other culture’s habits are like – sugarcoated though they may be for voyeuristic foreign consumption.

* of all foreign groups represented here, the Swedes are impeccably well behaved. Perhaps this woman’s standards are too-high! In truth, the Americans I know all seem fairly friendly as well. It’s those darn Russians… And the French. No one likes the French. Anywhere.

It’s too bad Obama support stopped being edgy some time ago. Now I must resort to contrarian arguments about America being led down the inevitably destructive path of crowd politics:

As the late Nobel laureate Elias Canetti observes in his great book, “Crowds and Power” (first published in 1960), the crowd is based on an illusion of equality: Its quest is for that moment when “distinctions are thrown off and all become equal. It is for the sake of this blessed moment, when no one is greater or better than another, that people become a crowd.” These crowds, in the tens of thousands, who have been turning out for the Democratic standard-bearer in St. Louis and Denver and Portland, are a measure of American distress.

Maybe? Should he win the expectations seem too high. Regardless, I have plans to eat pizza and drink wine early in the morning as I hit refresh on a browser watching election results come in.

Background: after having failed to find a decent gym within walking distance, I’ve spent the past two months on a more holistic exercise regimen (involving lots of sprinting, and probably ineffectual-but-time-intensive stretches and pulls on gymnastics bars). There are lots of these places in Chinese cities, probably holdovers from state-directed morning exercises?

Such places also happen to filled with lots of middle-aged guys early in the morning. If you ever want to feel special, it’s simply a matter of walking out to such a place and demonstrating that you can speak some Chinese.

They say the funniest things.

A group of five or so immediately began inquiring, and discovered that I was being supported by a U.S. government scholarship. Having already said, ‘well, the U.S. has lots of problems’ (in reference to the speed of development within China vis-a-vis the U.S.) Within two minutes of meeting them, the conversation had switched to: ‘Look at him, he can say whatever he wants about his country - it sucks that China doesn’t have a more open political environment.’

‘Sure we do, progress has been great’ another replied - ‘Oh really!? Why don’t you march down the police station and denounce the governor!’

This continued for a bit, and then moved into: ‘in other countries, the Olympics are a way to make money’ (I dissented) ‘but in Beijing, they spent so much. That would never happen in America or England; people would resist. We can’t.’

Someone then brought up America’s problems: ‘Well, the U.S. spends much more money on Iraq. What good has come from that?’ Assenting, I noted that it cost more every year than the Olympics did. ‘And black people aren’t equal in the U.S.! They weren’t even able to vote for a long time.’ Again I agreed, pointing out there are still massive problems with integration among Latin-American immigrants in addition to African-American race issues.

Someone else then mentioned that, ‘Well, Obama is black, and he might be their president. That’s the most powerful man in the world. Obviously things are changing.’ (I neglected to explain the active debate about whether or not Obama is in fact genuine ‘domestic black,’ or merely of the imported variety.) This however, was a welcome change from the typical commentary here about Africans / African-Americans as of late, which is typically: why are they such good athletes!?

Takeaways:

1. When discussing such topics, it is extremely useful to be self-critical. You can convince them much more quickly than through any amount of belligerence.
2. Zhou-everyman is very willing to engage in discussion about fascinating, sensitive topics. They are aware of common criticisms of China; share several, and are opposed to other aspects as well (property law, household registration.)
3. Whatever issues he may with accidentally promoting a messiah complex, Obama’s mere existence serves as a very strong signal to the rest of the world that the U.S. can integrate / function as an agglomerate. This is concept that fascinates the racially homogenous Chinese; as national identity is linked to ethnicity (there are obvious political benefits from constantly promoting this).