Monday, September 10, 2012

When in Rome do what the Romans do!

My first impression of Beijing China was not exactly nice nor charming. Having heard too many horror stories of how obnoxious the Chinese can be and their rather disgusting behavior, I was really apprehensive.

For one, Chinese in China do not seemed to understand the meaning of queuing up for anything. They seemed to be a rather single minded very focused people who only sees their objective and where they want to go and what they want to do, and in the process, are totally ignorant of the people around them or the inconvenience that they could have caused others in their pursuit of their objective.

They don't seemed to understand nor have ever heard of the concept of `first come first serve'. There seemed to be only one concept in China (or places that I have observed so far) and that concept is "Me First and Now!"

Hence, during my first visit, being accustomed to queuing up for anything and everything, I find myself totally frustrated at every turn. At the airport, we have people cutting queues without an iota of guilt. It was even frustrating when it comes to taking a good picture. While I am accustomed to waiting in line for my turn to take a picture from a certain location, I found out too soon that that does not always work. You could end up waiting for hours because there will always be some Chinese who would just sneaked in. And the worst part of it was, they don't leave after having their picture taken, oblivious that there are still others waiting to take a picture. Instead, they would linger on, either having a conversation or comparing their pictures in their camera.

Well, the phrase "When in Rome, do what the Romans do" holds true. On my subsequent visit to the Forbidden City, I told myself that I will not be intimated and I will behave exactly like how a Chinese in China would behaved. Although I would still queue as much as I can, I will do everything I can to ensure that no one would be able to sneak in front of me. As far as taking a pictures is concerned, no more Mr Nice Guy who would wait till the person in front is finished with their pictures. I will just stationed myself where I feel would give me the best angle and I will make sure that I will not move either until I am satisfied that I have captured the angle I wanted.

There were certain occasions when I find some inconsiderate idiots just walking up in front of my camera while I was taking my shot. Instead of being frustrated and gets totally irritated, I find myself coolly picking myself up and walking right in front of them, oblivious that they too are in the midst of taking a picture, and anchored myself for the shot that I have originally intended to take.

I find myself happier, less irritated and suddenly more at home in Beijing as if I am now just one of the crowd. After all, that is what everyone else is doing. I think I am going to do well and fit Beijing before too long.

3 comments:

Adrine said...

I remember standing in line for a buffet lunch in a 5 star hotel in KL - and was totally shocked when a group of China citizens just went straight for the food! and when I went for a 2nd helping, this lady just elbowed me as she wanted to go first!! adoi!

I'm normally a firm believer of "don't stoop as low as the person we are complaining about" but sometimes really no choice also....

Looking forward to plenty of good photos from you then :)

Mummy Gwen said...

When we were in HK Disneyland in Feb this year, surprisingly I didn't encounter such ppl.

Unknown said...

Hello errmm Daddy (sorry I may have to address you by your pseudonym until I find out your real name),

Like your posts, and you write very very well. Hope you don't mind that I will be checking out and catching up on your other posts, possibly linking up your blog to mine? Need your permission first, as some people may feel privacy invaded. Please drop me a note in my blog if that's ok?

Thanks.

More Pictures on Jeju Island Coming up NEXT!