The one about Queues is SO true. OMG, that drove me crazy when i was over there. At Customs, I thought I was going to have to trip some great grandma to keep her from knocking us out of the way.
Government is like an anus; it’s necessary, but it’s never going to be anything pretty or worth celebrating.
The one about Queues is SO true. OMG, that drove me crazy when i was over there. At Customs, I thought I was going to have to trip some great grandma to keep her from knocking us out of the way.
a lot hold the mentality that queues are for pussies , which drive me crazy
I was changing out 300 USD to RMB in china. I had a guy with his hands about 1 foot away from mine and my wallaet and passport that I had in front of me at the bank teller window. Had another girl on my left and they were crowding me at the bank window. I told my fiancee that if these idiots didnt back off and give me some breathing room I was going to put the guy on the ground. She didnt understand what the problem was. I explained to her later that in the West crowding like that is viewed as aggressive behavior.
As for the post being racist I kind of thought all of it was true and hysterical. The differences are funny when you group them together.
None of that struck me as really racist. Judgmental maybe. And most of the stuff about Chinese culture sorta seems to hold true :P
They should have had one about traffic. Seems to go in-line with the queues. Could even replace Italian with Chinese and it'd probably be even more entertaining hehe.
"Too often though, that revelation undoes them. They lose their morality, certainty, security. Many are driven mad. We must guide them. Help them to heal. Their minds must not be filled with more fairy tales, but with knowledge instead. Let them have answers, and let those answers be difficult and complex. Such is life." -Assassin's Creed 2.
Asians have got the best driving system in the world. Its like a real life amusement park ride with no safety mechanisms. You cant really explain it to people. You have to experience it. I tried to tell a friend of mine about it, upon his return from Shanghai he went on about the taxi cab rides for 30 minutes. You think your going to die every 45 seconds but you never do. Its wonderful in a twisted sense.
Asians have got the best driving system in the world. Its like a real life amusement park ride with no safety mechanisms. You cant really explain it to people. You have to experience it. I tried to tell a friend of mine about it, upon his return from Shanghai he went on about the taxi cab rides for 30 minutes. You think your going to die every 45 seconds but you never do. Its wonderful in a twisted sense.
Ragnerokk
Its sort of fun after a while if you're in a car (and someone else is driving) because after a bit you know you're /probably/ not going to die so you can start to enjoy the craziness of it. (Driving is a different story entirely)
However, as a pedestrian it never stops being terrifying. Trying to cross a busy street in Ho Chi Minh City ranks among the scariest things I've ever done, haha. Eventually you just have to fully commit yourself, walk straight and try to keep an even pace and hope nothing runs into you. Good times! :P
Glip the Gnome Old and Busted
"Where are my pants?"
Have you ever had had your life flash before your eyes?
If not, you should try riding a Taxi in Chongqing.
When we were coming from the airport, we saw a sign with a red circle and a slash, and a picture of a Horn. Melissa looked at it and said "Why is there a No Trumpets sign"? Well, as it turns out, there is a law against drivers using their horns inside the city. Not that it does much good. Pretty much every vehicle we have been on has had the horn set to full automatic. They probably have to be replaced every 10,000 miles or so. But there's a good reason for that.
Many people have told me that Chinese people don't understand the whole concept of waiting in line. Well, so far as Driving lanes are related to lines, The same problem holds true on the road as well. And not just Lanes, Pretty much every single thing that my driver's ed teacher showed us, we saw violated last night.
We were going to go to a scenic spot up on a hill, and since there were only 2 families going, we took Taxis. I have never been so scared for my life. I think the only time we were actually in a single lane for more than 30 seconds was when other cars were merging into our lane from both sides. Melissa gets worried driving I-77 through Charlotte... with this, she was so scared she was laughing hysterically.
If the driver needed to get into another lane, he just did. No checking mirrors, no waiting for a spot, he just yanked the wheel, and assumed that other drivers would adjust accordingly. Going up a winding, curvy mountain road, passing buses and dump trucks in a curve. Our guide XiXi took it all in stride, didn't phase her at all. At one point, we were on a 6 lane road, with 3 lanes going our way, and we were on the far right. Well, traffic wasn't going fast enough, so the driver pulled out into oncoming traffic, behind another taxi. Well, that taxi had to stop to avoid getting hit, so then the driver pulled over even one more lane to go around it... So we were 2 lanes deep into oncoming traffic.
At another point, we were coming up to an intersection, and needed to go right. However, there were 2 lanes, one straight only, one left only and a giant sign saying no right turns. The arrow lights for both lanes were red, with several cars stopped. So, Our driver did what any rational person would do. He went into oncoming traffic to the left, around all the cars stopped at the light and hung a right.
I know that Yao Ming is an NBA star from China, but I'm really wondering if it would be worth it for some NASCAR teams to start recruiting Cab drivers over here.
On the way back, We weren't able to get taxis, but some guy there offered to take us in his Van. Well, I call it a van. In the US, it would be considered a compact car at best. Think of the old VW Busses, but about 2/3 scale size... and just as old. Mind you, this was Our guide, 4 parents, 2 infants, the other family's 6 year olds, and our 4 year old... Plus the driver. When we said we wouldn't have anywhere to sit, I think he offered to get a stool out of the back. Luckily, he didn't drive as insanely, but in the US I'm pretty sure he would have had enough points on his license to have his right to drive revoked on the spot.
You might think that driving is so dangerous, why not walk? Well, that's not much better. Just as lanes aren't a really solid concept, neither are sidewalks. There are more than a few times where I had to get off the sidewalk, just to avoid getting hit by a car who decided there were too many cars in the road. I've only seen one crosswalk with walk/don't walk lights, and it was pretty much ignored as well. The secret to crossing the road is to look left and look right. If there is a Chinese person crossing at the same time as you are, you have decent odds of making it across in one piece. In the area we are in, it is a very scenic spot, almost like Times Square, but bigger. Everything, including Sidewalks and roads for a few square blocks is paced with polished granite blocks, like cobblestones, but a lot more expensive looking. The only thing that distinguishes sidewalk from road is a line that was painted years ago, and has mostly been worn off by now.
