I realise it's been a while since my last post... I suppose that comes with the territory of living in such a fast-paced city. Going on the theme of things that seem to happen only in China, I'm going to focus on something that's (no surprise) only happened to me here.
Yesterday (Monday) seems to have marked the beginning of spring out here... well that, and the way I tend to sweat profusely every time I step outside now. But I can't complain about bidding adieu to the Shanghai winter. Everyone out here seems to be feeling the spring-inspired happiness (and influx of vitamin D we've been so horrifically deprived of), and you know what they say, spring is the season of love.
With the season of love, however, comes a barrage of questions from locals here about my personal life.. Remember how a while ago I mentioned that their idea of personal space differed greatly from mine? Well, it seems to extend beyond the physical, as well. I've had the pleasure of being "proposed" to twice in the past two days, both by cab drivers taking me to work in the morning... nothing like the affection of a 50/60/70-year old man with an incomplete set of teeth to start my day with a kick. I made the mistake yesterday morning of telling the cab driver that I didn't have a boyfriend (yes, a very, very common question out here from anyone and everyone who gets the chance to talk to a girl.. in fact, the most common question I'm asked when I'm with a male friend is "is he your boyfriend?" to which I normally laugh awkwardly, because the answer is usually no..) Anyway, so once my suitor-in-question learned of my relationship status, things got awkward.
Let me elucidate: after asking me about my age/birthday/origin/job/pretty much everything about me except for my favourite type of food (oh wait, he actually did that too), Mr Cab Driver finally got down to business. The word "to get married" is new to me in Chinese, so it was only after a few minutes of awkward hand movements (perhaps meant to signify one's marriage night) that I realised what exactly he was trying to suggest to me. That, and he kept pointing to himself and to me... yeah... I don't need to say more... in the end it was kind of endearing though.. if you can consider a sexual proposal from a toothless man endearing.. but such is life I suppose. Love is in the air.
Then, today, funnily enough, I had another similar experience. This time, however, I learned to answer the boyfriend question with a "yes" (you'd think after 5 months I'd know where the question normally leads). However, rather than barrage me with marriage proposals of his own, the driver then started asking me when I was going to get married, why I wasn't married yet, that I should (yet again) get married in 4 years, is he good looking? what does he do?, etc. I decided rather than go down the route of making up a fake boyfriend (or going into fake details about him), I would try to avert the conversation topic... but not after hearing about his son who I should consider meeting...
Once again I started laughing and saying "no, no too young, too young" (to get married) to which the driver replied "ohhhh sallee sallee!! (sorry)". It was cute.. and then he quickly changed the subject and started teaching me some Chinese words (marriage and u-turn.. how appropriate, no?)
I guess the point of these flattering anecdotes is that I've found out here people tend to really put a big emphasis on the relationship status of females.. I have been asked "is he your boyfriend" or "do you have a boyfriend" more times combined than "what's your name" and "how old are you"... I suppose priorities just differ from place to place.. but as much as I'd love to marry a man 4 times my age, I think I'll stick to my guns (and age-range) for the sake of my sanity.. or his...
Then again, age is just a number (as they say), and I'd likely drive anyone to insanity... perhaps the benefits of taking on a husband 4 times my senior would be his probable lack of hearing... I wonder what the Chinese think of May-December unions?
Yesterday (Monday) seems to have marked the beginning of spring out here... well that, and the way I tend to sweat profusely every time I step outside now. But I can't complain about bidding adieu to the Shanghai winter. Everyone out here seems to be feeling the spring-inspired happiness (and influx of vitamin D we've been so horrifically deprived of), and you know what they say, spring is the season of love.
With the season of love, however, comes a barrage of questions from locals here about my personal life.. Remember how a while ago I mentioned that their idea of personal space differed greatly from mine? Well, it seems to extend beyond the physical, as well. I've had the pleasure of being "proposed" to twice in the past two days, both by cab drivers taking me to work in the morning... nothing like the affection of a 50/60/70-year old man with an incomplete set of teeth to start my day with a kick. I made the mistake yesterday morning of telling the cab driver that I didn't have a boyfriend (yes, a very, very common question out here from anyone and everyone who gets the chance to talk to a girl.. in fact, the most common question I'm asked when I'm with a male friend is "is he your boyfriend?" to which I normally laugh awkwardly, because the answer is usually no..) Anyway, so once my suitor-in-question learned of my relationship status, things got awkward.
Let me elucidate: after asking me about my age/birthday/origin/job/pretty much everything about me except for my favourite type of food (oh wait, he actually did that too), Mr Cab Driver finally got down to business. The word "to get married" is new to me in Chinese, so it was only after a few minutes of awkward hand movements (perhaps meant to signify one's marriage night) that I realised what exactly he was trying to suggest to me. That, and he kept pointing to himself and to me... yeah... I don't need to say more... in the end it was kind of endearing though.. if you can consider a sexual proposal from a toothless man endearing.. but such is life I suppose. Love is in the air.
Then, today, funnily enough, I had another similar experience. This time, however, I learned to answer the boyfriend question with a "yes" (you'd think after 5 months I'd know where the question normally leads). However, rather than barrage me with marriage proposals of his own, the driver then started asking me when I was going to get married, why I wasn't married yet, that I should (yet again) get married in 4 years, is he good looking? what does he do?, etc. I decided rather than go down the route of making up a fake boyfriend (or going into fake details about him), I would try to avert the conversation topic... but not after hearing about his son who I should consider meeting...
Once again I started laughing and saying "no, no too young, too young" (to get married) to which the driver replied "ohhhh sallee sallee!! (sorry)". It was cute.. and then he quickly changed the subject and started teaching me some Chinese words (marriage and u-turn.. how appropriate, no?)
I guess the point of these flattering anecdotes is that I've found out here people tend to really put a big emphasis on the relationship status of females.. I have been asked "is he your boyfriend" or "do you have a boyfriend" more times combined than "what's your name" and "how old are you"... I suppose priorities just differ from place to place.. but as much as I'd love to marry a man 4 times my age, I think I'll stick to my guns (and age-range) for the sake of my sanity.. or his...
Then again, age is just a number (as they say), and I'd likely drive anyone to insanity... perhaps the benefits of taking on a husband 4 times my senior would be his probable lack of hearing... I wonder what the Chinese think of May-December unions?
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