November 3, 2015

“It’s always a little bit of culture shock and reality check coming back to China. This place is so different than other places in the world. The culture and approach to life is unique. The thing that first occurred to me while I was on my flight from Moscow to Shanghai, where the woman sitting next to me had no problem leaning her head on my shoulder to sleep and curl up in the corner, with her legs up. The sense of personal space here in China is so different and unfathomable from the West. People are used to traveling in large groups, moving with the herd, and being very close to one another. Pushing and shoving to get on the metro or bus first is assumed. Cutting each other in line and standing next to one another on the bus is very normal. There is a much higher tolerance for noise and chattering. The streets are full of honking, taxi drivers yelling at each other, people calling out on the streets, and tour groups blarring their speakerphones. On our bus ride, without permission or warning, we had a tour guide that spoke to us in the bus for the entire 3.5 hours! There isn’t such thing as whispering I realized. Phone calls are still done in the same voice as speaking publicly. Negotiations all happen out loud. My gut reaction is disdain and confusion. But trying to put my judgement aside and my empathy hat on, I do see the reasons for it. There are so many people, so you really have to use your voice to get above the crowds and be heard. There is also a plus to making things public and transparent to everyone around - sometimes whispering makes people nervous.

Letting all this sink into my nervous system. Inhale. Exhale.”

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