Well it's been a long time between drinks. We've been home to Australia and back to Taiwan since the last entry. Back in time for the sweltering summer... woo hoo!
When you come from a famously friendly country like Australia some things, like manners and consideration of others, are just part and parcel of life. Sometimes we don't even notice we're doing the things we do, until we find ourselves in the midst of several million asians who do not follow the same rules.
There is a Chinese concept called 'Guanshe' (I've spelled it phonetically as I have no idea of the correct spelling). It effectively represents the connection you have with another human being, but not just any human being. The Chinese have Guanshe with certain people close to them or people they feel a sense of obligation to. The rest of the world go to hell. The social symptoms of this fascinating cultural behaviour are: running you over on a pedestrian crossing - even when you're pushing a pram, pushing past you in lines to check outs and escalators, not moving out of your way when you're sharing a small space and need to get by. I was beginning to wonder if they simply have different peripheral vision to caucasians but they don't, they just don't have any Guanshe with me so I don't matter. Sadly, I've sunk to hitting them in the heels with my pram or pushing them out of the way with my elbows...not something I'm proud of but at least I feel like I'm fitting in :)
It's been brough to my attention that the Taiwanese are actually EXTREMELY polite and kind compared to the mainland Chinese, so I guess that's one thing to be grateful for.
So, how do I get Guanshe with them? I'm working on it and will let you know if I ever find out.
Happy days.
Sabrina
http://www.life-coach.net.au
Friday, June 26, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
