Fili’s world

I ran into the Danwei blog by accident, through an article I've been forwarded about Muzi Mei (link). Muzi Mei was a sensation a few years back when the Chinese authorities have declared war on her blog detailing her sexual experiences, and DanWei has decided to just go over and chat with the girl, who didn't seem to think too much of it. Amazed by the whole story (and utterly jealous of the reporter's Chinese accent), I felt as though China is something I really can't grasp. The more I read about China and the Chinese people the less I understand, and the more I'm intrigued. I imagine that, for me, it started with what I was experiencing in Vietnam.

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Here's another example of something I read which got me very curious - an academic interview with a high-society-wealthy-educated Chinese working in Israel for only a month (credit goes to Dr. Elron of HUJI).
I have to say in advance that the subject of how a Chinese/Asian person would feel in Israel bothers me a lot, and stories I've heard from Lin (my Chinese teacher-friend) and friends working with Asian people have made me upset and has even oddly hurt my feelings.

(Question - interviewer. Response - person being interviewed)

"Response : I am not sure if it is right, it seems that most of the Israeli people are not so friendly to Chinese.

Question : They are not friendly to anyone. The Israelis are not a friendly people.

Response : But we are friendly to them and we say hello to them.

Question : Israelis can be very aggressive, they will be aggressive to me as well, don‚’t take it personally.

Question : We interviewed the Dutch — before you and he also said the same thing about Israelis.

Question : Not all Israelis are like this, the shopkeepers and the people that you have contact with sometimes tend to be not nice.

Response : Also we spend less, because compared to our country the prices are very high, we cannot spend a dollar here because the prices are not high. I only buy what I need the most, otherwise I cannot spend a dollar here. No money, no friends that means. But actually, I find that I am very welcome with the Arabs, they are very friendly to me even though I don‚’t spend much.

Question : The Arab culture emphasizes hospitality, now the Jewish culture is not like that, so it takes time to make friends with the Israelis. On the other hand, if you need help, they will help you.

Response: I am not so sure. But actually I can tell you my story.Two weeks ago I went outside to take a walk, because my roommates were all in —, I went out to some shops, to the street. I walked and walked and I got very tired and sat down on the bridge over the river, and afterwards I walked again over to my apartment but suddenly I found that I lost my keys, they slipped from my pocket. I was nervous because if I lose my key it is serious because not only will I have to stay on the street for one night and perhaps be bitten by mosquitoes, but also if somebody has stolen my key then they can follow me to my apartment and steal all my stuff, if that happens, it would be a diplomatic joke, it is serious, because one Chinese in Naharia lost his key and it was nervous. So I got very nervous but I told myself to calm down and think. So I thought that perhaps it happened when I was sitting on the chair, so I ran back to the chair and I found the keys on the ground. So the Naharia people are very educated, so they didn’t throw it away. They could have kept the keys and stole our things or they could have found it and thought that they don’t need it and throw it in the river. But they left it for the person who lost it to come back. I am very grateful, very grateful. That is one difference from what I am telling you.

Question : In time you will find positive, as you said there are two sides to everything, you will find positive and negative experiences in Israel, but it takes a little time, I think it is too early to judge. We will talk to you at the end of your year and then you can tell us what you think about Israelis, you may change your mind about Israelis.

Response: I hope we can come together and come closer…"

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"Response : … Take for example, you Israeli people are very well educated and very rich as well, right?

Question : We don’t think about ourselves that way but from your point of view‚…

Response : From my point of view, you have a car, a decent life style, a nice apartment. Your cities and towns and homes look like gardens, I like it very much, it is so nice. And you have this nice sea that you can watch, this nature gives you. And you are so well paid. Sometimes I see that even at night you don‚’t switch off the lights, even though it is a waste of electricity, but you don‚’t mind. So sometimes I admire you, but sometimes I am annoyed with you, because why don’t you switch off some of the lights, it is a waste of energy. Energy belongs to human beings. But from the other point of view you are not so happy because of the war. You have so many, not enemies, but hostile people, hostile neighbors because your government fails to deal with these problems. And that policy makes your people less secure, less safe. The Chinese enjoy a safe situation with security. So everything has its disadvantage and advantage as well."

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Now, these two very short sections of the interview are quite strange, for many reasons, on both sides of the interview. So many questions come to mind.
I could write my own perspective and thoughts, and I probably will later on, but I'll let you think about this one on your own for a while and I would be very grateful to hear your impressions and thoughts on this.