日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Opinion
Home / Opinion / Top news

Half a life half way around the world

By Benjamin Hammer | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2021-01-20 17:42
Share
Share - WeChat

Editor's note: We have asked expats living in China to share their own stories with the cities they work and live in. Benjamin Hammer is a US resident who has been living and working in Shandong province for 15 years.

Benjamin Hammer takes a selfie with his son atop Qianfo Mountain in Jinan, capital of Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

I lived the first two decades of my life in America and the next two in China. It is a strange feeling to know your own country only as a child and to become an adult in a foreign one.

I experienced very little culture shock upon arriving in 1998 because I knew very little about China. I had no expectations. Just live and learn. I arrived in China as a college student at Nanjing University.

On my first day living at the student dormitory, I went downstairs to the convenience store to buy a bag of chips. I came back five minutes later to buy a Coke. As a joke, I said to the cashier, "Long time no see!" 

She immediately corrected me and said, "No, you were here five minutes ago." That was lesson number one in China: sarcasm does not translate.

Soon after, a local friend invited me to his house for my first ever lunch in a Chinese home. His father finished eating first, put down his bowl and chopsticks and said to me man man chi ("Eat slowly").

I was confused. I didn't realize this was part of Chinese etiquette. He wanted to express that just because he was done eating, I should not feel rushed to finish.

I thought, "Am I eating too fast? Why does he care about the speed at which I eat?" After they explained it to me, I learned my second important lesson: to learn the language, one has to learn the culture.

I had already studied the language for three years before I came to China. I knew words, but there was so much I didn't understand.

Why were people putting food into my rice bowl? Why were people at the table telling me when I could and couldn't drink my cup of beer? Why was it okay for everyone to spit things out directly onto the table, but they covered up their mouths with their free hand when using a toothpick to be polite?

1 2 3 Next   >>|
Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 午夜影视免费片在线观看 | 国产在线综合一区二区三区 | 午夜家庭影院 | 奇米影视四色7777 | 日日操夜夜操免费视频 | 国产精品亚洲va在线观看 | 妞干网av | 国产 日韩 欧美 高清 | 久久噜噜噜精品国产亚洲综合 | 午夜在线免费视频 | 伊人精品视频 | 日韩欧美精品在线 | 亚洲国产成人九九综合 | 日韩精品a在线视频 | 日韩福利视频在线 | 欧美精品播放 | 日本成人一二三区 | 色情女教师3波多野结衣 | 国产在线a视频 | 91久久综合九色综合欧美亚洲 | 日韩在线视频一区 | 亚洲女人天堂 | 成人在线视频免费观看 | 色老师 | 亚洲视频在线观看免费视频 | 欧美四虎 | 亚洲欧美日韩中文综合在线不卡 | 欧美成人午夜 | 四虎免费在线视频 | 亚州人成网在线播放 | 欧美成人精品一区二区三区 | 国产一卡2卡三卡4卡免费网站 | 亚洲日本va在线视频观看 | 久草97 | 天天草人人草 | 亚洲视频在线看 | 91久久极品 | 亚洲成人福利网站 | 天天操很很操 | 亚洲欧美日韩中文综合在线不卡 | 欧美激情精品久久久久久久 |