Living in another country is a difficult, disconcerting experience and sometimes crazy. All expatriates in China have suffered "days from bad China", those days when everything seems so complicated and confusing. I asked a group of diverse expatriates to share what they most displeased him from living in China. Here are the results:
contamination
surprise, surprise! One of the things that all the expatriates of China talked about is that they hate pollution. They hate perennial haze, piracy cough and the need to run an air purifier at home, almost 24/7. Although a long way has come in terms of air pollution during the last decade, the average AQI remains well above most Western countries, especially in winter when coal is used to heat households in the rural zones.
Traffic
nobody loves traffic in the busiest cities in China; The buses of stretches, cars, mopeds, tricycles, scooters and bicycles, all care, like the rocks of the horn in a bag. The general inability of people to remain in the rail and be patient sends foreigners who drive crazy here, as well as the unfortunate habit of human trafficking in the metro car before someone can leave.
Open display of bodily functions
While it is true that there are certain things that Chinese are gross about us, many expatriates in China have difficulty accepting the common view of adults who Spit on the street and children in divided pants running rampant and doing their business where, please. No matter how long we stay here, it's hard not to make you shudder when an old guy passes to us and without apologies, leaves a feature of pedos loud, wet from the padded PJ.
Bureaucracy Dejufridled
"Did you tell me that yesterday I returned today and now you are telling me that I would return again tomorrow?" We have all been here in our attempts to manage administrative life in China. Whether the opening of a bank account, renewing a visa or even the adoption of a pet, expatriates in China have to jump through a large amount of burocratic rings burned to survive here. In many cases, bureaucratic inefficiency is also happily married to a complete lack of flexibility: a kind of "computer says that not" mentality. The two together are in fact a Kafkaesca joy to contemplate.
indirect communication
Chinese are known for having a lot of ways to do "no" or "I do not know", particularly in a work environment where Everyone wants to appear informed and willing. Often, in an effort to "save the face", you will find questionable or completely incorrect information, just because the person who asked you does not want to admit that they can not help. This can lead to innumerable misunderstandings with foreigners who tend to accept what they are told at the nominal value. Silly aliens!
For many expatriates in China, the things that we find more uncomfortable, unknown and difficult to accept are those that we can not see. We can get away from a child who poop on the street and we ignore the flaccid expulsions of our taxi drivers, but the differences in mentality are more difficult to soften and less easy to avoid.
In an attempt to mitigate this divide, some expatriates launch themselves in the local lifestyle, while others are divided into compounds full of foreigners and make their companies or schools handle everything to they. However, most of us sit at some intermediate place.
Wherever you are on the assimilation scale, just try to remember that there are these differences and peculiarities that make China the adventure we came here to find in the first place. Failing, here are some anger management tips!
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