Some Chinese facts! (2)

1)      For one month now, I have been struggling with one major problem here: where can I find a postcard? No kidding, I have been to many post offices where I found people who told me “we don’t have here but go to this place” what I did…For nothing. I went to libraries, to some “touristic shop” where you can find a lot of things authentically Chinese that usually people buy they are in holidays and bring back to their friend, for nothing. I asked some of my Chinese students, I asked some of the teachers who have been living here for years now and because of their indications I visited a part of the city just looking for some postcards but I could not find anything. Finally on Thursday, I went to my Alliance Francaise when one of my students came to me and gave me…A postcard !! I was totally amazed!! I asked her where she found it and it was somewhere I had never been until this day so I decided to go as soon as I finished work, what I did. I finally arrived and I found a “I-Mart”, it’s a big touristic shop, they only sell traditional Chinese items and there I found some postcards, finally…! Postcards of Paris, New York, London essentially ;) The only “Chinese” postcards I finally found were 3 postcards with a drawing of a bird and flowers, they are not even pictures of beautiful Chinese landscapes. Apparently postcards are not a concept in China, or at least not in the China where I am living, which surprises me a lot because here everything is about spreading the “greatness” of China so I would have think that people would be happy to sell amazing Chinese landscapes, I don’t know..! Anyway if some of you receive some postcards from me, appreciate it, I did many kilometers just to find some Chinese drawings ^^

I needed about one month to realize that people here are not poor and that it’s maybe us, European who are way too rich. Indeed, when you look at these people in the street, they know nothing about all the things we are used to but does that mean that we are right? Indeed when I see them, they are living and they seem doing it in a right way. How can I say that? People are working all day from early morning until very late at night but they are living while they are working, they have a nap after lunch, they play cards together, mah jong while they are waiting for customers, they joke and discuss with customers, they share moments and well I don’t see something wrong in that, indeed they are living. At least merchants in the streets do. Compared to people who work in companies like European and American do, it’s really stressful, they have such a big pressure on their shoulders, I can see that with my flat mates, sometimes they don’t go back home all night because they are preparing something for their company and they sleep at work, on the desk or elsewhere if by chance they find a sofa. The week end the only thing my flatmates want to do is have a rest, they look very tired and they are happy to chill out, to distress just playing cards and watching tv.

Maybe that’s why children are considered like kings here, it’s the only moment in their life when they are free, free of pressure, free to do what they want without thinking about consequences, free to be themselves. Children are the future, this is a sentence I often hear during my classes, it’s really interesting to talk with students who are from 20 years old to 30 because they have a lot of things to say about their own culture and they all agree, whatever I say “children are the future, we must protect them”. Example, in the bus, people don’t give their seat to old persons, fact which shocks me everytime I see it but they do leave their seat to children when they go into the bus and sometimes even old people do that as well. I am used to leave my seat to older people because I was educated like that and because it’s obvious for me as my legs are younger and so stronger but in Wuhan they don’t think like that, they only think “we have to protect kids, they are the future” and so they give their seats to children and they don’t stand up when eldests arrive..  At least not the youth from 15 to 30.

Here you have very few beggars! At the moment, in one month, I met less than 10 beggars in the streets which is absolutely “nothing”, compared to France for example… When people beg it’s because they always have a physical problem which is obvious and which makes the person unable to work. I met this guy who was begging and who had no arms, another one who was missing one leg, etc and I met few old people. Actually very old people don’t get a lot of money from people, I don’t know why, Chinese people give money when people obviously can’t work but when a very old person is begging, kneeling on the floor and praying, they often pass and don’t even look at this person, it’s something which shocks me. Indeed, if they are doing that it’s because obviously their children don’t help them, either they can’t or they don’t want to, I don’t know… I always thought that Asians were willing to help elders but obviously not as much as I thought or maybe it’s just in Japan or South Korea. Honestly I don’t think it’s good to be old in China because you have no retirement rent so either you keep working until the end of your life, or your children help you and keep you at their home or you have to beg... But I cannot blame Chinese people because charity is such a complicated question…

I did a game with my students one week ago. I gave to all of them a particular work situation or  a family situation (there were a doctor, a fireman, a president, a mother of 8 children, a 6 years old kid, miss universe, a famous dress designer, a policeman, a cook, a young musical prodigy and a student in master degree). They were in a hot air balloon but there was a problem and someone had to die because the weight was too heavy, so they had to decide who would jump and die to save the others! They had to defend themselves or to accuse others and it was really interesting.

First they criticized a lot the president (“but we agree it’s not our president at the moment, we would not criticize him”) telling that he is useless, he takes wrong decisions and blah and blah, that was an interesting part. Then they accused each other but they did not want to kill either the little child (who according to me “had no skills yet so it would not be a big waste” I was obviously provoking them J ) , either the mum who had 8 children (I tried to say she was irresponsible but they were shocked and said “children need their mum, they are the future if you want them to grown up healthy they need their mum”) and I agree actually but what interested me the most was their strong desire of saving miss universe! Of course I tried to say “she is just beautiful, it’s the only thing she can do in her life, she has no skills, no education and blah and blah” but they refused strongly this choice “she is beautiful!! You cannot kill beauty like that!!” and me “but you have so many beautiful women on this earth and far more cleaver” and their reply “she is the most beautiful, we’re not going to kill her, omg madam what are you talking about?”. It was a really interesting thing to see them fighting altogether against me to save the beautiful woman and finally they decided to kill the cook because even if it was a very very good cook, everybody can cook by himself. I liked this activity it was very interesting to see the degree of their priorities, obviously we don’t have the same. I don’t know, who would have you killed? (It's a part of the game, you have to chose someone)