There are many things to love about living in China...one of those things is not traffic. I woke up the other day to a slighly louder than normal traffic buzz rising from the streets below. As I looked out the window, I saw 6 lanes of cars on a road built for 4 and various "flash" parking lots all along the route. The funny thing is, this was a bit louder than normal, but actually not all that bad of a situation. I've seen and experienced much worse.
How much worse? Worse enough to have blurted out, "not on my watch" to a car trying to cut into my lane. Worse enough to have delivered numerous stink eyes and extended horn blasts on a 5 minute trip to the store. Worse enough to have entertained the thought, if ever so momentarily, of kicking a car. (Dan S and Dave J, my apologies for ever having judged you.)
In all seriousness though, traffic has taught me something valuable about how our radically different cultures face the everyday annoyances of life, be they on the road or anywhere else. Another friend explained it simply as the difference between water and wood. Our Chinese friends flow like water deftly maneuvering around these obstacles without a second thought. They weave a way through even if it does seem a little unorthodox and takes them a little out of their way. We westerners cry foul and protest as we crash head-on into these situations demanding justice, a word which by the way can sometimes be used to make getting our own way sound a bit more noble. For us, in the end, either the obstacle is broken, or we are. Meanwhile, our Chinese friends are rounding the next bend.
July 9, 2012
water and wood
There are many things to love about living in China...one of those things is not traffic. I woke up the other day to a slighly louder than normal traffic buzz rising from the streets below. As I looked out the window, I saw 6 lanes of cars on a road built for 4 and various "flash" parking lots all along the route. The funny thing is, this was a bit louder than normal, but actually not all that bad of a situation. I've seen and experienced much worse.
How much worse? Worse enough to have blurted out, "not on my watch" to a car trying to cut into my lane. Worse enough to have delivered numerous stink eyes and extended horn blasts on a 5 minute trip to the store. Worse enough to have entertained the thought, if ever so momentarily, of kicking a car. (Dan S and Dave J, my apologies for ever having judged you.)
In all seriousness though, traffic has taught me something valuable about how our radically different cultures face the everyday annoyances of life, be they on the road or anywhere else. Another friend explained it simply as the difference between water and wood. Our Chinese friends flow like water deftly maneuvering around these obstacles without a second thought. They weave a way through even if it does seem a little unorthodox and takes them a little out of their way. We westerners cry foul and protest as we crash head-on into these situations demanding justice, a word which by the way can sometimes be used to make getting our own way sound a bit more noble. For us, in the end, either the obstacle is broken, or we are. Meanwhile, our Chinese friends are rounding the next bend.
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1 comment:
So poetic and so true. I was just frustrated by the addition of a TWENTY-FIRST stoplight on my 12 mile drive to church, and I have to remind myself this is a "first-world" problem and thus not something I should be getting so worked up about.
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