Dating a Chinese Man (and the unwanted presents that come with it)
“How are things with you and your Shanghai man?” I ask J on the phone as I slurp some coffee and munch on toast.”I hear you have dinner with his family every weekend? Seems like things are getting serious.”
“Mary, I’m going to have a breakdown,” J sighs heavily on the phone. “His mom did something that REALLY bothered me these last few weekends.”
“Oh no,” I set my coffee on the table and leaned in, almost as if J were really sitting across from me. “Did she say something about you being a foreigner? Or maybe about your family?”
A Shanghai Summer’s Eve
I want to recount one of the “livelier” Shanghai evenings I’ve had this previous summer. This post is really more for my own personal pleasure and to recount one of my better memories here (no real deep personal insight). In Shanghai you always have strange, random evenings–and summer 2013 was no exception.
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I was on the couch sporting the most unflattering sweatpants and baggy sweater I own, my hair unkempt and my body slouched on the sofa like a slug. My one hand was holding a cup of tea, the other hand stuffed into a giant plastic bag of dried fruits from China’s northwest province. I was having the first lazy Sunday I’ve had in weeks–and it felt so good. I was watching Hanzawa Naoki, cheering on my beloved protagonist with the world’s “hell yea!” and stuffing more Xinjiang raisins in my mouth, when my roommate emerged from her room, wondered what on god’s green Earth I was watching, then looked at me and said:
Asian Guys Like “Stupid” Girls
*WARNING: I do not think Asian men or women are stupid. This is a satirical post mixed in with personal opinion, read it with a grain of salt*
I Like Stupid Girls (Chinese Version)
I like to believe that the majority of western men don’t date women for looks alone, and intelligence plays a small role in the selection of a partner. Personality–most importantly, intelligence–plays a huge role in who we want to date or spend the rest of our lives with.
Not for Asia.
It was about two years ago when my friend got a new girlfriend. He had been single for quite some time and, despite being 25, had never truly had a girlfriend. When his friend set him up with a fellow girl from Hunan, he was elated to meet her. On the first date they hit it off, and by the second date things were starting to get serious. As his best friends, he wanted us to meet his new girl and give him some very important feedback.
It’s true–women like a-holes
J: “I’m never dating a banker.”
Me: “I mean, they seem like scumbags but I’m sure there are some perks to dating them.”
J: “They’re gross. They have massive orgies.”
Me: (pause to process aforementioned sentence)
“What? They have orgies? Is this a banking thing I’m oblivious to?”
J: “Remember that Chinese douche, Bill, I was kind of seeing? He worked in a big famous bank, but he was only junior associate. He told me once ‘whenever we put through a big transaction, all the big-wigs celebrate with orgies. I’m so jealous.’
A flashback to interpretation in hell
I was psyched, nervous, excited–it was my first, real “professional” interpretation job. I was to take a train to Suzhou and meet all the bigwig corporate CEOs for a Japanese and American company and help them talk to each other. I got the “go” signal from the office in Japan and it was the day before my duty. I was reviewing difficult business Japanese and doing practice exercises through simultaneous interpretation of Nikkei business video clips when I felt it.
Back in Japan
Well I came back to Japan, and who else here to welcome me other than…
Giant Gundam
It’s been a year since going to Odaiba, and since then they have created a new mall called ‘Diver City’ full of luxury good stores that I will never be able to shop in, along with the return of the giant gundam. Everyone was outside looking for a photo snap shot, including yours truly.
Unlike last time, being in Japan feels absolutely great. Yeah, everyone still looks like a zombie and they are overworked to death, but the atmosphere of the society itself is just lovely. And more than the overall picture, I miss the little things the most. I love how the trains work, even how they look; I love the pre-packed bentos for sale, along with the nicely wrapped onigiri. I like the recycling system, as well as the clean streets and punctual public transportation. When people bump into me, it feels great to have someone say ‘sumimasen,’ as opposed to Shanghai where I get a grunt and a shove.
Back in the states
Hello world.
It’s been a few months since my last blog update, and that can be attributed to the lovely Chinese government and their hefty upgrades on the VPN blocks in China. I also upgraded to a Macbook Air, so finding a suitable VPN for my new OS was a bit of a pain, I must admit. However, here in the states I can access facebook and wordpress headache free, so hopefully I can continue to update this blog of randomness and get all of the crazy thoughts out of my mind and onto some written format.
Being a “Shakaijin”
This is me at work.
Especially yesterday when I worked two hours of overtime and just couldn’t take it anymore.
No longer do I have to make 8 hour nonstop phone calls in Japanese, but instead I am given one translation project after the next. Sometimes, I think my eyes will bleed in kanji characters. My tears will spell out the word: 過労死
In America, overworking just isn’t a common thing. One good aspect of America. Here, however, the work is too much and the deadline is too fast.
“The Homework Wouldn’t End…”
Three Chinese children in Jiangxi province attempted suicide.
The reason?
“The homework wouldn’t end….”
http://www.asahi.com/international/update/0922/TKY201109220518.html
「死んでしまえばもう宿題をしなくて済むと思った」
“If I died, I thought I wouldn’t have to do homework anymore…”
Three children attempted suicide by trying to jump from a tall tree; they were all injured with broken bones and bruises, but luckily none succeeded in their trial.