Angry expat - The last rant

I will not become an angry ex-pat.
I will not become an angry ex-pat.
I will not become an angry ex-pat.

Keeping positive. China is great fun for a while, i'll put it down (depending on exposure levels) to about 3-9 months of mystical wonder.

The Magic

1) CHEAP STUFF im rich, chinese people are are not, i can buy everyone i want. Weeeeeeee

2) Cute and crazy cultural things, they may grind later on, but these include vehicles of questionable quality towing half a house along, old people doing tai chi with silly clothing, children with bare bums pissing in a public pot plant.

3) Shadows of a great historical past, west lake for me, Hutongs in BJ, french quarters in SH, something about these places, after a few drinks at night, really still sparkle. Plus china has limitless travel potential despite countless pitfalls and dramas of traveling.

The Mayhem

1) The chaos, the crowds, the pollution, the public selfishness. I was well ready for this, but on some bad mood days, reaching bursting point is a heartbeat away.

2) Something that i didn't expect is the "Special Treatment" people with white skin receive. I never expected this on such a scale. People don't listen to your chinese, the hellos, the generalisations (everyone assumes your american). In my experience my co-workers think im useless and overpaid, perhaps to a degree, but the exceptionalism is so brazen some days i think im another species.

3) Business. Chinese seem to have no organic uncodified moral compass, other than some loose bullshit about public face. Screwing someone over in business is the unfortunate norm. There is no long term alliance building, like i thought guanxi worked, but rather a "big deal or no deal" reigning mentality. This leads to poor service, poor work ethics and shady business practises.

But with that out of my system, i would like do a deal with china and not begin the decent into angry expat existence.

1) The people are people. Chinese people are upbeat, warm, and externally open. Thats once you push away from the "community" mode into the "friends and family" mode. I really have nothing against the basic chinese ambition, lifestyle and personalities. I do not think i am better than chinese people, at all! I think people often need to make this personal connection to better understand and accept china.

2) i hear about people who hate china but love learning chinese. I think they go hand in hand. The enormous but tangible challenge is perhaps the biggest mountain i will climb in my life, and its true: the more you learn, the better it gets.

3) The future is getting better. I really believe that the public chaos is on some level getting better. All the drawbacks previously mentioned are in retreat or at least stable, and i share the chinese optimism for the future.

With that out of the way, no more mindless bitches, only constructive insight....maybe