Fuddland
You might be thinking that, when embarking on a flat-hunting mission, choosing which agents to go with is a difficult step: after all, how can you really know which one is going to try and screw you over the least? Thankfully, the short answer is that they’re all going to try squeeze as much commission out of you as they possibly can, so the decision is largely influenced by one simple question: what freebies do they give you?
Upon making your first arrangement to view a flat, you’re presented with a small goodie bag, and there’s a couple of moments of intrigue as you plunder its glossy contents. Most of the time it’ll just be full of brochures and business cards, but we did receive one gem: a 140-page booklet entitled, “Doing Business in China”.
As well as some genuinely useful information regarding setting up or engaging in businesses for the first time in China, there are also some amazing pieces of cultural advice, including:
how to distinguish between (关系), which we’re told is “not evil, or even bad, but it is selfish”, and your bog-standard corruption
a table of the differences in thinking patterns between the East and the West, which tells us that in resolving conflicts, a Western person will go for a simple win or lose, whereas someone from the Orient, if they cannot reach a win-win situation, has the mindset of “to lose is to win” or “lose in order to win”. While this might give one the emotional or moral high-ground, I think that eventually the shareholders are going to get a little tired of losing, even if it is in order to win
My personal favourite section concerns the expat life in China, specifically what the booklet refers to “trailing spouses”. The following is copied verbatim.
Some wives — especially those without accompanying dependents and/or who do not have to work because of their husband’s generous expatriate remuneration package and/or who have no particular career or skill — relish the idea of becoming a “bungalow bunny”, joining the ladies who lunch at their interminable coffee-mornings, sports activities, mahjong parties, shopping expeditions, etc. If you are one such, then you will not be disappointed!
Those blasted interminable coffee-mornings!
Other wives — even those who do not have to work because of their husband’s generous expatriate renumeration [sic] package and/or have no particular career or skill — harbor ideas of being a working wife in China as a way of killing time while hubby is at the office, rather than becoming a “bungalow bunny”. Perhaps teaching English? The fact that they are not qualified and/or not well-educated does not seem to deter them. After all: should not the Chinese be grateful for the opportunity of conversing with the English-speaking wife of a foreigner, rather than making do with a China-educated Chinese teacher of English. If you do not already have a successful career at home, you are unlikely to in China — although there are some who are the exception to the rule.
Having met a good few expatriates in my time, I can unequivably state that being born a native English speaker does not necessarily mean you’re able to use grammar or even pronounce words correctly.
Far away from life-long friends and family, a wife loses her entire natural support network at one swoop; and the older she is — just like moving to a new neighborhood in the new country — the more difficult she may find it, and the longer she may take to make new friends, for a variety of reasons (such as: difference in age, values, education), not least cliquism. No matter what the books say, or others tell you, expats can be as cliquish as they come, especially the long-term ones who tend to vote conservative with a capital C and may resent sharing their circle of friends with newcomers barging in on “their” scene.
Do I detect an ounce of bitterness? Maybe if the author didn’t generalise quite so much, he or she might get invited to a few more parties.
Comments
srh | 2007 / 07 / 15 – 01:50
“Bungalow bunny” is a quote from Dirty Dancing! Ha! You’re quoting Dirty Dancing on your website! :D
David | 2007 / 07 / 15 – 02:09
Re #1: No, I’m quoting a booklet that quotes Dirty Dancing. :P
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