re: #101 wheat-dogg

I’ve had some students participate in a sketchy “work-study” summer program in the States, where they work for shit wages in menial jobs for three months and have another month to travel. Even the ones who had abysmal work experiences with bad employers say their interactions with Americans were overwhelmingly positive. None gave me the impression those bad experiences colored their attitudes toward the USA in general. I suppose Chinese are used to having shitty bosses.

What they appreciate most is not just the personal freedom to do what they like, but also the general American attitude of not judging someone because of his or her family background or the quality of his or her connections (guanxi). Here in China, family background, guanxi and one’s university are all grounds for prejudicial treatment in the workplace. IOW, kids who attended a key university, who are not from rural areas, or who have family connections with someone in a company have a better chance of getting a job than anyone else.

I’m not surprised by that. I hear ya about the personal freedoms thing. I was talking to my mom’s cousin about her mom (my mom’s dad’s older sister) and my great aunt who was born before my great grandparents were naturalized said that what struck them when they got here from Slovenia and the Austro-Hungarian Emprie was that they had a lot of individual freedoms and they didn’t fear being watched. Plus, I am sure family connections was another thing too. I think the best thing an American can do a foreign visitor is be as friendly as possible. I hear an accent I don’t know, I honestly do want to knwo where these people are from. The beach resort town I go to has a ton of Eastern European kids that work at the restaurants and bars in the summer months and they’re nice kids. I’m often curious to talk to them because a lot of them are Slovakians and when I find that out, I point out my own roots in that country. I think they A) Appreciate an American knowing their country and B) Not just assuming they’re Russian.