“To say I’m disoriented is an understatement. I don’t feel like I’m any part of this place – just looking in on a culture and people I don’t understand. The streets are crazy – if there are rules, no one follows them ... I haven’t seen one Caucasian female yet ... is there a reason? The pollution is worse than I expected. Imagine putting your head over a sewer on a really humid day and breathing in as deep as you can. That’s what it’s like here, everywhere, all day, all night ... Last night I met up with a giant black and orange beetle. Will I have to learn to live with all of this? I can’t even cross the street yet. How am I going to teach little kids?”
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Teaching+English+Culture+shock/4348511/story.html#ixzz1F14oLLIT
[I'm not really sure if I agree with the conclusion, although it is very Canadian (i.e. blame yourself). Adapting to culture (and different systems) is just as much about reaction as it is about anticipation. You can read about my experiences here at the Lost Taiwan Blogs.] LWB
where in that awful article did you find the author blaming herself as opposed to spewing misinformed garbage about a culture she is only repulsed by and has no interest in trying to discover?
ReplyDeleteAll over the article, she's critical of herself. She may be misinformed at times, but she isn't blaming the place she lived in. She blames her own lack of preparation.
ReplyDeleteIf that's too much for you to deal with, I guess you are either a hpyper-politically-correct foreigner, or a challenged Taiwaner with identity issues. But that, in turn, would be your problem, not Ms Craig's.
@chortik: Like it or hate it, I thought the last sentence about summed it up.
ReplyDelete@justrecently: So that's how one handles a loaded question ;) Btw, you have an amazing blog!
LWB
Why, my handling of the loaded question was twice as long as the loaded question itself! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading my blog, too!
@justrecently, i'm perfectly happy with the author being a "xenophobic tart" as someone has called her in the comments. I am not happy about an important newspaper giving her a platform to spread her drivel.
ReplyDelete@Lai Wongbao, so a sentence of self-deprecation is all that's needed to smooth over paragraphs upon paragraphs of essentially racist garbage?
I guess we have different understandings of "essentially racist"...and "essentially sexist", too. Can I ask, was it the Chinese version or English version of the article you read?
ReplyDeleteI can see how "perfectly happy" you are, chortik. Anyway - your problem.
ReplyDelete@Lai Wongbao, english
ReplyDelete@justrecently, the paper should be happy to publish an article about how disgusting poutine is and how unbelievable it is that people actually eat something that nasty, right? in those words.
ReplyDeleteLWB: I had thought that I knew all Taiwan-related blogs I'd be interested in - nice to see there's another one.
ReplyDeleteI wish you success, and fun, of course, with your 2011 project.
@justrecently: Thanks for the encouragement. I have had this blog for a long time but just got around to putting some effort into it. We'll see how it goes ;)
ReplyDelete