If I walked up to you, tapped your stomach, and said, “you’re a little fatter than you were,” I’m sure you’d think I was rude and I would have to agree. When a Chinese person does and says the exact same thing, they do not consider themselves rude. In the Chinese culture, excessive bluntness is not considered impolite in any way, so things that I consider offensive are said to me and my friends almost daily. It’s moments like these that I remember that what is and isn’t considered rude has changes not only from time period to time period, but from culture to culture as well. And it’s not that one is more right than the other, they’re just different.
I’m not going to lie; there are times that this specific aspect of Chinese custom really gets on my nerves. Most days, however, the “rude” things people say are just make me laugh. Here is a quick list of such comments from the past week:
1. Your nail polish is strange and ugly.
2. Do you think you are a little fat?
3. The class you teach is a joke.
4. Spoken English is broken English.
5. The pork is very hard.
6. He said that he thinks you are fat.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
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Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you can see some humor in the different customs and way of life for other people. Maybe you can learn what not to say to people so as not to hurt their feelings. There is learning for us is all we do.
Mom