 Dating
and Social Interaction in China
Once
you are in China and you don’t know anybody in your new
country and society, it might seem a bit difficult to
meet good people or to make real friends.
This
is just a first impression you could feel after you get
in a new unfamiliar environment. But, it won’t take long
to get to know few people, certainly first at your
school.
I
remember going to the party at the Belgium embassy,
though I don’t really have any Belgium friends at the
time. We met someone just 20 minutes before the party
started. There were many people from different
countries: France, Austria, Poland, etc. and we ended up
having a good dinner there and meeting so many people. I
always say, one should be open to everything new.
Many
Chinese really enjoy foreigners, especially those who
can speak some English and possesses at least some
knowledge of Western culture. These people are usually
open-minded and very sociable. They always look forward
to meeting and communicating with foreigners. And I
should admit that many foreigners, especially guys, find
Chinese women exotic and beautiful. Many of my friends
have been maintaining serious relationships with Chinese
girls for a several years.
Some
of them get married and live in China. Others move to
the husband’s home country after marriage (USA, Canada
and other places). I even know a few couples with the
wife being from another country. It’s a common thing.
Nobody is going to gossip about whom you are dating. Of
course it’s not actually permitted to date your students
or other teaching staff at your school. Usually teaching
institutions try to prevent any type of relationships
between Chinese and foreigners, as well as between
Chinese themselves.
If
you just try to keep friendly relationships with your
students or colleagues at work, you will never break any
rules. Sometimes you might want to go out for dinner on
some special occasion or just go sightseeing, it’s quite
common if you join you Chinese colleagues or students.
Many foreigners do it, and actually Chinese people seem
to enjoy having a foreigner around.
In
smaller cities or towns, there are usually not so many
foreigners, so these people try to establish kind of
“local foreign community”, where everybody knows each
other. They often get together after work. There are
usually a few people dating each other. This small
community is often closed, there no Chinese at
all, only Western-oriented individuals. So when a
newcomer arrives in the city /town, this community meets
the person straight away. They show him/her around and
help him/her to adjust. It's a good thing, I’ve
experienced this myself and should say that I’ve met so
may good people and we had a great time together.
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"Twenty
years from now you will be more disappointed
by the things that you didn't do than by the
ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the
trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
Discover." -- Mark Twain |
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