30 Observations From a Chinese Immigrant
My wife had compiled a list of observations about life in Utah to send to her friends and family back home. That was about a month ago, actually. It took me a while to get around to translating her points into English so we could share them here:
1. It can still snow in April.
2. Noon is a lot warmer than morning/night.
3. Some highways are completely empty.
4. The sky is blue.
5. You have to wait a long time for a bus, and then the bus is empty.
6. When it’s a wet day, nobody bothers to take an umbrella.
7. You usually have to call a taxi ahead of time.
8. You must make an appointment to see the doctor.
9. Pedestrians have the right of way.
10. Mexican restaurants are everywhere.
11. Chinese fast food is bland.
12. When a traffic light goes out, people still know how to take turns.
13. Hospitals have helicopters.
14. Some firefighters are just volunteers.
15. Everybody likes to put ice in their drinks.
16. You can drink water directly from the tap.
17. Dishwashers are common household appliances.
18. Strangers smile at each other.
19. Sweets really are sweet.
20. Boys will open doors for girls.
21. There are such things as “discount theaters.”
22. Or you can rent a movie from a red box on the street.
23. Sometimes a big soda is cheaper than a small soda.
24. If you can’t drive, it’s very difficult to go anywhere.
25. People take healthy teeth seriously.
26. A large pizza is only $5.
27. You can’t drink alcohol until you are 21.
28. To drive, you have to take a class and complete a lot of homework.
29. There aren’t a lot of native Chinese people.
30. No matter how good some things are, I still miss home.
(Here is the original list written in Chinese.)
Responses to “30 Observations From a Chinese Immigrant”
Comments RSS Feed – All CommentsHopfrog — 20 November 2011 @ 10:56 pm
#10: God bless the USA!
#26: Fellow fans of Little Caesars I see O_o
Clark — 20 November 2011 @ 11:57 pm
Yeah, we get a Little Caesars pizza almost every week. I never get tired of it, especially since I just discovered their “zap pack” spice packets!
Ryan — 21 November 2011 @ 7:12 am
These are great! No. 30 really strikes it no matter what direction around the globe you’re going, eh?
Love No. 9.
bill rich — 21 November 2011 @ 8:49 am
No. 12.. That is civilization.
Clark — 21 November 2011 @ 9:32 am
Bill, she was quite surprised when we came to an intersection where the lights had gone out, and people were still treating it like a normal four-way stop. In China, they would have had to send a traffic guard out there ASAP, otherwise everyone would be trying to squeeze through at the same time.
bill rich — 21 November 2011 @ 7:58 pm
Clark, I bet she forgot to mention that people stand at empty intersections waiting for the light to change to cross the road.
ashton — 22 November 2011 @ 3:55 am
Have you been outside Utah? Places like San Francisco and Seattle have many Chinese people and hence better Chinese food. Vancouver, Canada is another place that makes for a great retreat for homesick Chinese people. There are such huge Chinese communities that there’s alot of things you wouldn’t find in Utah.
I lived in China, met my wife there. We now live in my home state of Kansas. It’s a bit hard for her, but we fly to these cities every now and then to help her out.
Biko Lang — 22 November 2011 @ 4:39 am
15. Everybody likes to put ice in their drinks.
The REASON people like to put ice in their drinks is because the shops and restaurants do not have to put as much soda or juice into the glass or cup when there is lots of ice in it, and therefore they don’t really give you your money’s worth, it’s a trick of the restaurant and bev industry, in fact, McD too. Don’t get taken in. Americans have been cup-washed, er, brainwashed, mouth-wasehd to believe that ice is good for them, but in fact it’s there just to make the profits go higher.
Taco Ted — 22 November 2011 @ 4:45 am
RE: “[My book] is as much about life in modern communist brainwashed mindcontrolled dictatorship of China — the food, the language, the customs — as it is about how the experience helped me grow up and move past my social insecurities, *conflicting Mormon upbringing*, and self-defeating mindset. And, seriously, there really is a section about tacos in here, too.”
So you mean you went to China a Mormoni missionary to change the beliefs of the people there, or as a modern ex-Mormon who grew up past the baloney of your own brainwashing? Or have you brainwashed your wife to follow the Mormni silliness, too? I hope not. Otherwise, you are a fraud!
Hopfrog — 22 November 2011 @ 7:55 am
The REASON Americans like to put ice in their drinks is because we prefer to drink them cold. I can safely say that in my decades of interactions with my fellow Americans I have never ran across one that touted the ‘health’ benefits of ice. Most places nowadays have unlimted soda fountains and we still load those cups with ice because that is how we roll. Wait, I take that all back… OMG I can’t believe I have been brainwashed by the ice lobby all these years!!! Thank you Biko… thank you.
And mano a mano Clark, I don’t give a shit what your beard looks like or what any other mano’s beard looks like. I hope you don’t take offense that I have never given it a second of thought.
Clark — 22 November 2011 @ 9:28 am
As Hopfrog pointed out, even when the drinks are self-served, we still use ice. But then we drink a lot of soda in the US, and soda is pretty gross at room temperature.
Ashton, we’ve been to Vegas and will be going to LA this week. There are actually some very good Chinese restaurants near us, though. She was mainly referring to chains like Panda Express.
Ted, I don’t know where you got this idea that I’m a Mormon. My blog has been anything but nice to Mormonism, and the line in the book’s description suggests that growing up Mormon was a problem.
jd — 22 November 2011 @ 9:51 am
Haha, that’s most of my observations when I first arrived. My Aunt couldn’t get used to the fact that pedestrians have the right of way even after three months she had got here.
Laowai — 22 November 2011 @ 8:54 pm
Clark, what a great list, thanks for sharing this. Any chance you would make it available in Chinese? Some of my friends here in China aren’t all that well-versed in English.
Clark — 22 November 2011 @ 10:18 pm
Sure. I’ve added a link to the original list at the bottom of the article.
Laowai — 22 November 2011 @ 10:32 pm
Great. I love #30. I can relate to that – here in China.
Gwei Loh — 23 November 2011 @ 10:52 pm
Clarke, this is a great list and the Chinese addition is good for students of translation. thanks. As for the peach fuzz on face, i agree with Hogfrog, lose the beard, mate. you look more real and handsome clean shaven, ask Sarah! And also this just in: the reason you got 25,000 hits the last few days is your blog and Sarah list was featured on the Univ of California Berkley daily China newsletter and one of 5 feature links so you got traffic from all over the world and maybe some weirdo comments like above. Ice? That guy knows nothing. Then again, maybe we ARE brainwashed by the soda jerks?
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Phil — 25 November 2011 @ 11:46 am
Dumping a glassful of ice cubes into beverages willy nilly is a slightly barbaric and very unhealthful custom and one of the minor annoyances of living in the U.S. Liquid-candy soda pop also contributes much to alarmingly high obesity rates in the U.S. It is fortunate that the First Lady has been leading an effort to encourage schoolchildren to eat better school lunches and more nutritious food in general.
Trudy — 25 November 2011 @ 7:36 pm
Ice? Come on, seriously? If the Chinese really believed the temperature change nonsense they spout about hot water cooling you in summer, they would put ice in their tea in winter! The work your body has to do to warm you up after ice really warms you!
The English don’t drink scotch on the rocks since they don’t like diluting good liquor, but then I hear they also drink their ale warm. It is a matter of what you are used to; nobody says ice is nutritious or healthful; it is just comfortable! And I did grow accustomed to the shot glasses of boiling water in boiling August weather. Now I can drink tepid water, but I just prefer cold, summer or winter.
And, yes, you don’t get as much soda when the cup is full of ice. I always get my large McD soda w/o ice, and a small cup of ice on the side. It can make a mess in the car, but I have gotten very adept at pouring…
Actually, I usually buy a bottle of Pepsi Max and a cup (refill) of ice at the gas station. I like the taste better than the fountain Max.
Johnny Sun — 18 January 2012 @ 1:01 am
Hey, Clark,The List is so good!The culture difference is so big !
renee — 2 May 2012 @ 10:08 pm
In IL, any driver can be the teacher, my husband taught me to drive, I didn’t take any class for driving.
There should be more difference to add here, waiting on the traffic light, when the light doesn’t work, everyone takes turns to go. That’s the big difference.
renee — 2 May 2012 @ 10:24 pm
Strangers will say hi to me in the supermarket, when I first got here, I was confused. I thought they knew me, haha . My husband said they just wanted to be friendly. I’m so happy about this difference.
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