Citan

No worries stfranalum. I know I need to not bite so many times on the news. It's cool, thanks for keeping me in check. I know China isn't perfect and I did have to speak with the police a few times over my misuse of my internet connection while I was there. It isn't perfect, but I just didn't find it as bad as I was led to believe it would be. It wasn't perfect, but it beat the pants off of South West Missouri :P

__________________
Yours,
Norng Citan

stfranalum

in south west missouri, they grant foreigners more rights than in your guest country china.

you will never be considered a national, equal to them. when you get married, you might have a child. he too will be chinese (like my boy is part thai) but then he will never be 100% chinese. examples throughout asia like this. i only know from direct experience that korean americans have it hard, in ways, when they try to integrate fully into korean culture.

my point is, is that youre from an open society. say what you will about china, its closed. you really cant dispute that. if you like whats within the walls, then great. but you need to remember you have fewer- and this is for thailand too- albiet china you have much much fewer rights than any other foreigner has when they step foot into your country. think about that vis a vis you not being able to seperate your understanding and worldview from who you are. aka- you have an open mind because youre from an open society. you think its ok to be yourself- free to express yourself, "so why cant the chinese?"

ironically, they dont grant you that same courtesy.

and even thailand doesnt. so i guess its a matter of what you want to deal with. and you choose to be very positive about living there. and hell yeah to you man- finding a way to live happily.

but there are a lot of freedoms you enjoyed that your hosts think threatening. threatening so much that they will kick you out, on a moments notice, the moment you "get creative" on them.

wanghunghigh

Jesus, what did you dare to do? Check your email...?

Citan

Oh I know I can't dispute it not being open. But for some reason that never bothered me and living within the laws suited me fine. I'm just not an extravagant individual I guess Must be the world ending apathy of my generation.

__________________
Yours,
Norng Citan

re_fuse

Isn't there like 15 years jail on the books for looking at a bit of tit and arse ? ( actually I know it is I read the entire criminal and civil and Labor laws )

Also got the death penalty for anyone who bears false witness in any criminal proceedings involving capital crime. There are certain aspects in the Chinese Constitution ..where if the courts actually got their practises and procedures together and applied the law equally. Party members face the death penalty if found to have failed to act in the prevention of criminal acts or failure to act in the protection of civilians. But basically it works out that people only get slotted for that if they got no friends at all.

__________________
My Behaviour is a function of my experience .

My Personality is a composite of my behaviour patterns,of my

traits,adjustments and the roles that I play.


I act accordingly to the way I see things

:-)

jonny danger

Smiley is in that box too. He married into that box. And his box doesn't have a toilet so they shit on the floor of that box.

I was so happy to get back to Thailand after leaving China I wanted to eat a kilo of Thai soil. I felt like a recovered alcoholic dead beat dad who'd just gotten out of prison and re-united with his family: Oh, my babies, my babies .. daddy will never leave you again. That's how bad China was!

Citan

See I don't drink or need whores to have a nice life... so for me that is mute, being a non-drinker.

Several of those laws are being changed, or looked into. Granted little will come of it, but it works for making a good show in the papers.

And any laws against being caught with pornography were taken down to be minor crimes methinks, as it happens everywhere now, and is quite a common thing to talk about. Some laws are on the books but are not enforced, I would assume.

__________________
Yours,
Norng Citan

jonny danger

I would assume as well. Still plenty of hoz out and about. The police won't be spying on you but your school's morality squad will.

re_fuse

I got right into China before arriving read heaps My students were professors astronauts and spy's at staff officers Military uni.....Weekends I would go out into the City to Engineers Doctors Teachers and Artists. After Hunan I went to Canton worked for a private school for the gifted and talented. It was like I was a Pop star which is ironic because from there I went out to the wild wild lawless west and befriended cool Muzo's in the Pop Show Bar and Used to sing with the pop show bands ....Also befriended the Locals but it wasn't cool for them... Hidden out there in the boondocks are many things that the Government of China would kill to keep secret ......I got a pretty good handle on Chinese people from low to high ...well pretty high ..even the CIA don't know how the Politburo works.They don't all look the same and they don't all necessarily act the same ( tho likely in most circumstances) I can tell at a glance whether the person deserves my trust or not .....Particuarly my students at NUDT who were all high ranking party members they must had seen something in me cause a few woulds individually seek to socialise with me and they would just drop their guts and tell me things that they would never dare say to another Chinese .Everything you say and do goes down on your permanent record.It's sad really It's like Japan before the second world war ...and it's going to explode........ I got lots to say about his more.

__________________
My Behaviour is a function of my experience .

My Personality is a composite of my behaviour patterns,of my

traits,adjustments and the roles that I play.


I act accordingly to the way I see things

:-)

stfranalum

drinking and whores isnt personal freedom.

personal freedom is when or if the time comes where you want to speak you mind about some future X, you cant. then, it gets personal.

its just not now for you. youre able to adjust, adapt- and take it as it comes. brilliant positive travellers mentality.

a saying my jewish grandmom told me. she had a cousin in the holocaust:

they came for the blacks, but im not black, so i didnt say anything.
then they came for the poles, but im not polish, so i didnt say anything.
then they came for me, and there was no one left to help.

so i guess this sounds lecturing, but the bar needs to be raised from "it doesnt affect me personally".

we have our own compromising points though.

i hope that if ever someday you have a real grievance, youre back home where you have rights. heck, even in thailand we are not given real unbiased treatment. so its lecturing to say that you should do better for yourself.

i guess im just being a pedantic whore here, but i think china is scary. bad scary. not good scary, like look out! wow theyre scary. but geez thats some creepy shit scary.

all the best to you. i hope you find your niche.

and be real quiet.

re_fuse

'2012 Games to be held in Beijing too'

Ben Blanchard | August 14, 2008 - 8:33AM

Po-faced guards and grim-looking officials give many Beijing Olympic viewers and audiences the idea that the Chinese are a people without a sense of humour.
But despite strict control of the internet to censor out sensitive topics, irreverent websites, emails and text messages about the Games and the country's politics abound.
One line pokes fun at China's less-than-stellar national football team, who failed to make it to the last and next World Cups, by parodying a song being played to distraction around the city and in Olympic venues, called Beijing Welcomes You. "Our goalposts are always open," it invites you to sing along. "We'll give you all our points, it doesn't matter."
Beijingers' frustrations at the security measures and other restrictions which have been put in place over the Olympics are the subject of a biting text message joke.
"News flash: IOC President Jacques Rogge announces that because of China's enthusiasm and thoughtfulness, the next Olympics are going to be in Beijing too. Rumour has it state officials fainted and Beijing police led the wild cheers. Damn you, old man Rogge!"
Other Chinese have had fun messing around with word games, the tonal Chinese language being a gift to jokers, because a single pronunciation can have several wildly different meanings.
Thought the tender song You and Me at the opening of the Beijing Olympics was about peace and friendship? More like rising oil and food prices, some Chinese are saying.
"The Chinese name of the theme tune You and Me is 'You (oil) and Mi (rice)', an expression of concern about this year's oil and food problems ...," runs a Chinese-language joke being circulated online.
Those tired of Games overkill and the heightened security that has made normal life difficult in Beijing are being advised to take an "avoiding Olympics package" (bi yun tao) holiday, a phrase that also sounds like the word for condom.
"Bi yun", means contraception, or avoiding pregnancy, in Mandarin, but in a play on words the same pronunciation is now used to mean avoiding the Olympics, as "Ao yun" means the Olympic Games.
One blogger has designed an Olympics ring made out of blue, black, red, yellow and green condoms to drive home the point.
"Roll on the end of the Olympics," a poster wrote on another Chinese website, applauding the new phrase.