Please help me understand

[chengdu4me]

Heres a thought...my sweetie and I were discussing news coverage...personally, I think her view is naive and closed-minded, not to mention extremely biased towards her beloved motherland, but nonetheless, this is her take on Chinese vs. western media reports.

 

"Chinese media must report accurately..they are monitored and controlled by the government. Western media is not controlled by anyone, so they can lie all they want".

 

Needless to say, I was a bit shocked by this observation, but I let it go as 1. there isn't going to be any changing her mind; and 2. the argument would have been unproductive and would have taken days to complete given her extremely limited English...ever tried having a complex discussion using a pocket translator?

[chilton747]

2. the argument would have been unproductive and would have taken days to complete given her extremely limited English..

 

 

Come on Larry, be a gentleman. What you meant to say was "given YOUR extremely limited Chinese."

Edited May 29, 2009 by chilton747 (see edit history)

[Guest Pommey]

2. the argument would have been unproductive and would have taken days to complete given her extremely limited English..

 

 

Come on Larry, be a gentleman. What you meant to say was "given YOUR extremely limited Chinese."

 

 

[fortunecookie]

This may be changing the subject a little... Although my wife and I have talked about religion some, we have never talked about it in any great length. Then the other day we got on the subject of GOD, and she told me that it was stupid to believe in GOD. This is just another example of how Chinese will defend their country and culture and think other beliefs are stupid.

 

FC

[whome?]

This may be changing the subject a little... Although my wife and I have talked about religion some, we have never talked about it in any great length. Then the other day we got on the subject of GOD, and she told me that it was stupid to believe in GOD. This is just another example of how Chinese will defend their country and culture and think other beliefs are stupid.

 

FC

 

Yea .. I never met any people in USA who do this ....

[david_dawei]

This may be changing the subject a little... Although my wife and I have talked about religion some, we have never talked about it in any great length. Then the other day we got on the subject of GOD, and she told me that it was stupid to believe in GOD. This is just another example of how Chinese will defend their country and culture and think other beliefs are stupid.

 

FC

Oh please... while china has the longest history of any civilization, it doesn't mean that every issue is the result of defending their country.

 

Spend even a few months studying how their ancient observations of the universe and man's life resulted in a 'natural order' which was then extended to emotions, food, health, medicine, illness, personal, social, society, political, philosophical, and religion issues. It is the most systematic explanation of life and it was done thousands of years ago. Describing man and his interaction with nature is essentially unparalleled among all cultures.

 

Besides just life interactions, they developed a 'beginning' which is both compatible with the western transcendent religion and scientific big bang... Again, done thousands of years ago.

 

I often wonder why westerners are so critical of the eastern way.. and accuse them of not understanding our western way... which simply suggests the western is as adamant about not understanding the eastern way.

 

This is a generic question to all westerners... Most have no clue as to the development of this thought... we think of it as cute words like "Feng Shui", "Daoism", "Confucianism", "Buddhism", "Yin Yang", etc... It is ALL connected into one whole system... Few have the courage to really try to understand it. That does not mean one accepts it.. but that one is willing to get outside of their own western understanding.

[fortunecookie]

This may be changing the subject a little... Although my wife and I have talked about religion some, we have never talked about it in any great length. Then the other day we got on the subject of GOD, and she told me that it was stupid to believe in GOD. This is just another example of how Chinese will defend their country and culture and think other beliefs are stupid.

 

FC

Oh please... while china has the longest history of any civilization, it doesn't mean that every issue is the result of defending their country.

 

Spend even a few months studying how their ancient observations of the universe and man's life resulted in a 'natural order' which was then extended to emotions, food, health, medicine, illness, personal, social, society, political, philosophical, and religion issues. It is the most systematic explanation of life and it was done thousands of years ago. Describing man and his interaction with nature is essentially unparalleled among all cultures.

 

Besides just life interactions, they developed a 'beginning' which is both compatible with the western transcendent religion and scientific big bang... Again, done thousands of years ago.

 

I often wonder why westerners are so critical of the eastern way.. and accuse them of not understanding our western way... which simply suggests the western is as adamant about not understanding the eastern way.

 

This is a generic question to all westerners... Most have no clue as to the development of this thought... we think of it as cute words like "Feng Shui", "Daoism", "Confucianism", "Buddhism", "Yin Yang", etc... It is ALL connected into one whole system... Few have the courage to really try to understand it. That does not mean one accepts it.. but that one is willing to get outside of their own western understanding.

 

David,

Perhaps I worded my comment wrong. IN MY CASE... MY WIFE will defend her country, her culture, her religion, etc WITH GREAT DEDICATION. And in doing so will mock any belief that is different. So I stand corrected to suggest this is done by other Chinese people. Although, I suspect others here will agree with me - if they have had any deep conversations with their Chinese SO's.

FC

[fortunecookie]

FC, I tend to agree with you - to a degree. Tai tai was kinda like that when she first got here. Everything in China was better. American ways were stupid. Over time that has changed and she has a much more balanced view. Still still loves her country, but will admit that some things are better in the US. It is a comparison.

 

Don,

 

I also agree with you that it has slowly changed a little. She will sometime admit that she has realized that some things and/or behaviors may actually be better in the US vs China.

 

But one thing that still really "gets her crawl" is to see American women flaunting their bodies in public - especially if it is not an attractive woman. We live right across from the beach and she sees this a lot and hates it. She says this would never happen in China.

 

FC

[samsong]

Lol...whale tail & blubber butt!...