There’s a metaphor in cross-cultural training that goes something like this: your home culture is a yellow culture and has yellow ways to do things. You host culture is a blue culture and has blue ways to do things. When a yellow person goes to a blue culture, they don’t suddenly become blue. They also don’t completely stay yellow. Instead, they turn green. They are green in the new blue culture and green in the old yellow culture (this leads to the loud emotions of going back and forth). What are some signs that Americans (or at least this American) living in China are no longer totally yellow and are becoming green?
The beach in Qingdao, China
You know you live in China when…
You regularly drink water room temperature or hot. There are no ice cubes in your freezer.
There are more hangers on your balcony than in your closet, because all your clothes get hung up to dry, and you can only dry as many as you have hangers for.
Dryers and dishwashers seem like exotic and expensive appliances.
You take your shoes off when you enter a home.
You are familiar with two sets of social media–American (Facebook, Instagram) and Chinese (Wechat)
You don’t say excuse me when you brush against people in a crowd or expect others to say excuse me when they brush against you.
You have answered questions with grunts and been understood.
You regularly see both small children and adult men peeing on the street.
You’ve bought cheese, powdered sugar, tortilla chips, spices, etc. on the internet.
You know how to make sour cream, yogurt, bread, ham, ranch dip, chocolate syrup, imitation maple syrup, whipped cream, pumpkin puree, and other things from scratch.
Your clothes and shoes are all from the U.S. because it is hard or impossible to find your size in China.
You’ve stared longingly at a field of grass that is surrounded by a fence and signs that say something to effect of “the grass is our friend, please don’t step on it.”
You expect to be approached at tourist sites by people who want to take a photo with you.
You use the words mafan, lihai, and shunli in English conversation, because they are hard to translate into English.
You can identify advantages and disadvantages of visiting different sections of the Great Wall.
You’ve been told you are fat and you should lose weight by total strangers, who don’t expect you to be offended.
You bring a 1-2 year supply of deodorant and stuff for your curly hair in your suitcases.
Your sheets are from IKEA, because it is one of the only (if not only) place to buy fitted sheets.
You know which places you can bargain over the price and which ones you can’t, and how much to bargain at different places.
You check both directions before you cross the street, even if you have a green light.
You don’t sit on the floor or go barefoot.
You regularly use the term foreigner and don’t think it’s weird.
You know how to register your accommodation with the police station.
You’ve stood in the shampoo aisle with a dictionary (A real book or phone app, depending on decade), trying to pick out shampoo and not conditioner, body wash, or whitening face products.
You own more than one air purifier.
You accept a greeting of “have you eaten?” or “you’ve come back” because you know it is
used like “how are you?”
You aren’t too surprised when you discover a favorite haunt has changed names or decor or disappeared completely.
You have both a weather and air quality app on your phone to assist you in making decisions about wardrobe and outdoor activities.
You expect people in public places to be watching or listening to things on their phones without headphones.
You pay for things with your phone more often than with cash or a debit card.
You regularly make plans with others 24 or less hours in advance.
You are more surprised when schedules are announced well-before an event than when they come at the last minute.
So, how green are you?
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