Hangin' With the Locals...
Jun 28, 2018 19:47:26 #
My wife has two aunts. Both live in the same small village and one of them, because of the remote area she lives in, I have only visited one time. When I went, they treated me like Royalty and were sweet, wonderful people. Very nice to be around and I would love to go back and visit them again. Because of the area, few foreigners ever visit here, so when yours truly showed up, it caused a bit of a stir. The Chinese word for foreigner is "Laowai" and is pronounced "laow-hwi" (with a short "o" vowel sound and a long "I" vowel sound.). Some consider it a derogatory term, but the Chinese will tell you that while it was at one time, it is now a term of endearment and friendship. I tend to believe this because in the three years that I've been here, 99% of the people I have come into contact with here have been magnificent. So, I wear the term as a badge of honor and am friendly to anyone who calls me by this name. I even answer them in Chinese agreeing with them and say "Hada, may gwa ren laowai", which means "Yes, American Foreigner", which usually gets greeted with a smile and a laugh, since it is unexpected for a foreigner to answer back in Chinese. BTW... "may gwa" is the name for America and translates to "Beautiful Land". Cool, huh?
When we first arrived, I was shown around the area and again there were several curious people looking on, and this group was one of them. After we ate our meal, I purposefully sat outside and many of them came up for a closer look, which is what I really wanted. I think you have to be able to tolerate a certain amount of gawking if you live here because America is a 16 hour flight and Europe 11 hours, so to see someone travel so far is indeed unusual. In fact, I may be the only foreigner they ever come into contact with. Because of this, I am constantly aware of my actions and try to treat everyone well. They will literally just stop and stare at you. Not to be rude, but because they are curious to see someone who is so unusual to them. When this happens, I generally greet them with a nod of respect and say "Nee how ma?", which means "How are you?" (when you add "ma" to the end of a sentence, it implies a question). There are generally two reactions to this. They will either smile and start speaking to you in Chinese or walk away. :-) I am mostly successful with this, but sometimes not so much. Because my wife is Chinese and married to a foreigner, it puts her into a position of ridicule with some here, and when that happens, I tend to put my "bitch cape" on and set them straight. She handles it much better than I do, but this has only happened 2-3 times in the nearly 3 years I have been with her. Still, she is my wife and I adore her, so I don't allow her to be disrespected.
So, anyway, here is an image that I shot of these nice people when they first saw me walking down their streets. Have a great day and hope you enjoy the image!
When we first arrived, I was shown around the area and again there were several curious people looking on, and this group was one of them. After we ate our meal, I purposefully sat outside and many of them came up for a closer look, which is what I really wanted. I think you have to be able to tolerate a certain amount of gawking if you live here because America is a 16 hour flight and Europe 11 hours, so to see someone travel so far is indeed unusual. In fact, I may be the only foreigner they ever come into contact with. Because of this, I am constantly aware of my actions and try to treat everyone well. They will literally just stop and stare at you. Not to be rude, but because they are curious to see someone who is so unusual to them. When this happens, I generally greet them with a nod of respect and say "Nee how ma?", which means "How are you?" (when you add "ma" to the end of a sentence, it implies a question). There are generally two reactions to this. They will either smile and start speaking to you in Chinese or walk away. :-) I am mostly successful with this, but sometimes not so much. Because my wife is Chinese and married to a foreigner, it puts her into a position of ridicule with some here, and when that happens, I tend to put my "bitch cape" on and set them straight. She handles it much better than I do, but this has only happened 2-3 times in the nearly 3 years I have been with her. Still, she is my wife and I adore her, so I don't allow her to be disrespected.
So, anyway, here is an image that I shot of these nice people when they first saw me walking down their streets. Have a great day and hope you enjoy the image!
Jun 28, 2018 19:55:54 #
Jun 28, 2018 20:30:50 #
What a wonderful and interesting story. Thank you so much for sharing it.
Jun 28, 2018 20:51:38 #
Nice photo, nice story... I’m with you...disrespect my wife, meet the Big Dawg! 
Jun 28, 2018 21:02:57 #
@snappyhappy-
In China, they tend to have these big markets that will specialize in one area. We own a very small apartment in Nanjing (about an hour and a half from our home on the high speed train) and were refurbishing this apartment, so we can rent it. We went to one of these places that has everything for the home. Lowe's on steroids. Anyway, we're walking out and I hear this man say "Well, he looks OK for a foreigner, but she must be a whore...". He, not expecting that I understood, stood there, I stopped and grabbed him by the collar and told him to repeat his comments, so I could beat him. He was petrified. I threw him to the ground and the crowd standing around started to gather. I turned to them and asked if anyone else wanted to speak badly about my wife? They were amazed and many of them started to slink away when I did this. We go there now and no one gives us a hard time though. Problem solved. This is by far the worst of these incidents.
In China, they tend to have these big markets that will specialize in one area. We own a very small apartment in Nanjing (about an hour and a half from our home on the high speed train) and were refurbishing this apartment, so we can rent it. We went to one of these places that has everything for the home. Lowe's on steroids. Anyway, we're walking out and I hear this man say "Well, he looks OK for a foreigner, but she must be a whore...". He, not expecting that I understood, stood there, I stopped and grabbed him by the collar and told him to repeat his comments, so I could beat him. He was petrified. I threw him to the ground and the crowd standing around started to gather. I turned to them and asked if anyone else wanted to speak badly about my wife? They were amazed and many of them started to slink away when I did this. We go there now and no one gives us a hard time though. Problem solved. This is by far the worst of these incidents.
Jun 28, 2018 22:07:28 #
Pixeldawg wrote:
Mark, You did the right thing. I would have done the same thing@snappyhappy- br br In China, they tend to have t... (show quote)
Jun 28, 2018 22:10:37 #
Pixeldawg wrote:
Mark, Thanks for sharing. It is sad the bias that we have in this word exists. Thanks for sharing the story and excellent image.My wife has two aunts. Both live in the same small... (show quote)
Jun 28, 2018 22:44:43 #
Pixeldawg wrote:
@snappyhappy-
In China...
In China...
Isn’t it ironic you moved from the United States, half around the planet, to find raceist preduices just like we have here. Loudmouth punks are always lurking in the shadows to prey on any weakness they can discover. Soon as they meet somebody who ain’t calling 911, they can’t get out of there fast enough. You did the only thing you could do when you have any respect for your wife or yourself. Round the part of the world you moved away from, this guy would have to count it a blessing from God that running got him out of there in time to keep his name out of the paper. Still like your photo...really like you style...you go Dawg!
Jun 29, 2018 07:14:57 #
Very nice photo and an absolutely wonderful piece of writing. Photojournalism may be calling out to you, as you appear to have a natural talent for it.
Jun 29, 2018 07:55:44 #
Loved the story.....it must be so nice to visit a foreign country. The culture has to be so different. Enjoy your time there.
Jun 29, 2018 08:21:12 #
Jun 29, 2018 19:17:36 #
Jun 29, 2018 22:35:10 #
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