| Foreigner, Westerner or Expat? | |
|---|---|
| Apr 2, 2007 18:56 | #21   |
 | I would like to call "people from other countries" When in the U,teacher told us that it was not polite to call "foreigner" or even "LAO WAI",since for the listener,it didn't sound good inside.It brings a feeling of somehow like "stranger". Also,as a Chinese,for I have never been living in other countries for a long time,personally I don't have any idea of how a life of a Chinese living aboard like..NICE?BEING RESPECTED?? So when my colleagues called us "You Chinese..."I was pretty angry,and then replied"You French...You German..."I don't think "You Chinese" is polite enough.Obviously we are all working in China,I do not think that being a Chinese is inferior.China is our hometown. |
| Apr 2, 2007 19:56 | #22 |
| APAULT , you are smart to use The White in that case. But I'm wondering if it is applied to every foreigner, since not all the foreigners are white people. |
| Apr 3, 2007 00:02 | #23 |
| Hi Liz, as for whether "foreigner" or "laowai" are polite or not depends very much on the context, as both words are essentially neutral. If you simply use them to refer to people from another country, then no problem. If you see a foreigner on the street and shout out "Laowai!" and stare and gape like the foreigner is some kind of bizarre animal, then you can expect a very rude response if that foreigner is me. I'm sure you wouldn't do that, though. Had I been there when your colleagues started saying "You Chinese...." I probably would've taken your side. That kind of thing is just plain rude. I think the key here is one of basic respect- do unto others as you would have them do unto you. |
| Apr 3, 2007 03:53 | #24 |
| Well said, Chris! |
| Apr 3, 2007 07:37 | #25 |
| Alien implies so foreign as to be non-compatible, not a good way to address foreigners you wish to make friends with! Only Americans seem to use this term for non-US citizens. In my view it should be reserved for visitors from off-planet. |
| Apr 3, 2007 15:14 | #26 |
| " but if Chinese people use a fairly simple expression to describe foreigners, it doesnt hurt anyone. That is part of Chinese culture." A part of Chinese culture (also - Roman) was to call all non-chinese (non-romans) "barbarians". So I think "something is part of our culture" is not enough. Just because the rest of the people do not like this. We need to be adaptive.And in fact - we are :) Sometimes too much... |
| Apr 3, 2007 15:31 | #27 |
| "I would like to call "people from other countries" When in the U,teacher told us that it was not polite to call "foreigner" or even "LAO WAI",since for the listener,it didn't sound good inside.It brings a feeling of somehow like "stranger"." LAO-WAI sounds for the people STRANGE. It is true. "Also,as a Chinese,for I have never been living in other countries for a long time,personally I don't have any idea of how a life of a Chinese living aboard like..NICE?BEING RESPECTED??" ABROAD? Which ONE? USA are not Egypt and Greece is not Korea. Which ABROAD? "So when my colleagues called us "You Chinese..."I was pretty angry,and then replied"You French...You German..."I don't think "You Chinese" is polite enough." " 我们-中国人。" (We - Chinese.) is SO POPULAR SENTENCE IN CHINA. Why we have to be angry if Germans, French or Japanese call us - "You - Chinese."???????????? AND - what about when a lot of Chinese people says: "老外喜欢吃。。。" (Foreigners like to eat...) or "Foreigners like Chinese girls", etc. THE SAME AS ALL THE LAOWAI's are ONE-AND-THE-SAME-THING! It is an ABSURD! The same ABSURD is about : "新疆族" (Xingjiang nationality) - a Geographic place instead of CONCRETE "MINZU" (folk). What is this? ___ So, I think the problem is HERE: a/ A lot of Chinese HAVE NO IDEA THAT FOREIGNERS are NOT THE SAME. b/ They EVEN don't know that WEST CHINESE ARE NOT THE SAME! THE GEOGRAPHY KNOWLEDGE HAVE TO BE DEVELOP! |
| Apr 3, 2007 15:43 | #28 |
| Chris, I read an interview. She was a lady from Russia or Holland...I forgot. She is living in China. She says : "I do not like people to call me "laowai"!"... Context or not, for some of them it is just "bu hao ting"... And I think I got one of the reasons. Because it : a/ Separate them from China. And a lot of them, if they are living here, probably, if not love, at least like to be part of the society and do not like the other to mention their "外" (wai). b/ Unificiate...Just imagine that some of them do not like to be one and the same to : -Russians or -Americans or -Indians or -Australians or -Turkish or -Arabians...etc. Everyone would like, probably, to be proud of his nationality/folk. And to put him in a common with people who are different and/or who he/she do not like at all is really lack of sence of tact. |
| Apr 3, 2007 22:41 | #29 |
| Thanks George |
| Apr 4, 2007 00:03 | #30 |
| Sanyachina, enough ranting, alright? We're not here to bash China or Chinese people for not measuring up to anybody's aribtrary set of standards. I'm well aware that many foreigners dislike the term "laowai", but so what? The term is essentially neutral, even if it is often abused. Used appropriately in a proper context with proper respect then no harm is done. And although the terms "laowai" and "foreigner" are usually used (in China, at least) to refer to white people, there is nothing in those terms that restricts them to being used to refer to white people, nor is there anything in them that implies that all non-Chinese are the same. Yes, some people dislike being reminded that they are, in fact, foreigners, but that is a simple fact. If they don't like it they're just going to have to learn to deal with it. |
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