WWCC

My goodness. It’s like an epiphany! I just learned an acronym that defines me:

Westerner With Chinese Characteristics

Reading this article, it suddenly all makes sense. I understand why I:

• Sometimes express dismay, disgust or anger by ‘Aaaaayiiieeeee…’;
• Eat stuff that disgust many of my colleagues just explaining what it’s made of;
• Carry a dreaded ‘man-bag’ around;
• Take unreasonable caution to shield the feelings of the people I disagree with;
• Use strange mandarin grammar when talking (“Mo bu movie?” instead of “Want to watch a movie?”);
• Laugh when I’m embarrassed;
• Cross a life-threatening street corner without even glancing twice at the bus speeding towards me;
• Consider karaoke one of the most exciting things to do on a Saturday night;
• Always rush to pay the whole bill after a meal;
• Consider eating each his own dish to be somewhat antisocial and barbaric;
• Feel slightly ill after eating too much dairy products or sugar;
• Gradually lose the distinction between ‘p’ and ‘b’ sounds, or ‘d’ and ‘t’. (“Wanna dalk or continue to blay?”)
• Use peculiar expressions such as ‘That was very delicious”, or “How to say?” ;
• Consider tipping to be strange and counter-intuitive;
• Consider the presence of fish heads or chicken heads in my dishes to be a sign of freshness;
• Think drinking cold water is bad for your health;
• Can shove my way past a mob with no regard to how many elderly grannies I elbow in the guts.

Yep… It’s definitely starting to sound like I have spent too much time in China!