In China, one often sits in the front seat of a taxi. Many times, places don't have exact addresses (or the passenger doesn't know the address) so people sit in the front to give directions, etc.
Top five questions asked by a taxi driver to me, the obvious foreigner in the family:
1. "Where are you from?" Not bad, gets boring, but no problem.
2. "How long have you been in China?" Okay, not very creative, but that's the only way you get info . . . asking questions.
3. "How long have you been in this particular area?" Followup to #2.
4. "What do you do for a living?" So far, so good . . . same questions as anywhere else in the world.
5. "How much money do you make each month?"
What? **blink** Did you read that right? Yes, you did. This is an extremely common question here and after over four years, I am still unable to get used to it or to answer it. We do get paid a bit more local teachers (not a huge amount more, but enough), but we don't want that info out there because then we could be known as the "rich foreigners" (which we are not).
I tried giving a lowball round number (more than 1000 yuan) and the taxi driver thought I was insane. He knew I was lying. Well, not actually lying (I do make more than 1000 yuan per month) but that I was being evasive.
Most of the time, I say that it's not an American custom to give out this information. Sometimes, this works, sometimes not. Sometimes, I simply have to say, "I'm not going to tell you."
2 comments:
I used to work for a company that trained people in cultural differences. And then I lived in Sedona, Arizona, a small town 4 million people a year visit, many of them from many other places. You'd bump into cultural difference for sure. I always find it interesting.
On a totally unrelated note: this was posted at a blog I read. And since you qualify as someone I blogknow in another country, thought I'd pass it on. Have a lovely day!
http://www.37days.com/2009/11/send-him-a-holiday.html
Greetings! I stumbled upon your blog while searching for blogs that comment on living in China. As a Chinese expat living in the States, your blog is fun to read. As for your comments on money, it's fairly common in China to ask about whether a person is married, how old their children are, and how much they make. It was one of the hardest habits for my parents to break when they moved to the US.
Have a wonderful day!
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