Dealing with students from different cultures

Don't be such an arse. Weird means 'different'. And yes it would be 'weird' to boil lettuce in a country where the lettuce is perfectly edible as it is. There's nothing whatsoever that's arrogant about it. Other people from other cultures may undoubtedly call some of the things we do 'weird', but we don't get hung up on it.

Don't be such an arse. Weird means 'different'. And yes it would be 'weird' to boil lettuce in a country where the lettuce is perfectly edible as it is. There's nothing whatsoever that's arrogant about it. Other people from other cultures may undoubtedly call some of the things we do 'weird', but we don't get hung up on it.

wierd does not mean different.

If I told you that your hairstyle was different to mine, it would not be quite the same as saying your hairstyle was wierd.

With regards to the girl boiling lettuce and water, surely this just shows that the girl has particularly high standards of hygiene as far as food is concerned. Does this mean that all Chinese people do the same? Of course not! (not if the quality of some Chinese take-aways i've had in the past is anything to go by, haha.) They eat cockroaches and crickets in some parts of China FFS. I find that pretty wierd actually, but I havent tried it so I can't really comment. Then again I am a vegetarian, so I suppose I'm pretty squeamish in general.

If people were commenting on things that were ACTUAL cultural practises then I wouldnt have an issue. But I haven't seen such a thing so far.

wierd does not mean different.

If I told you that your hairstyle was different to mine, it would not be quite the same as saying your hairstyle was wierd.

With regards to the girl boiling lettuce and water, surely this just shows that the girl has particularly high standards of hygiene as far as food is concerned. Does this mean that all Chinese people do the same? Of course not! (not if the quality of some Chinese take-aways i've had in the past is anything to go by, haha.) They eat cockroaches and crickets in some parts of China FFS. I find that pretty wierd actually, but I havent tried it so I can't really comment. Then again I am a vegetarian, so I suppose I'm pretty squeamish in general.

If people were commenting on things that were ACTUAL cultural practises then I wouldnt have an issue. But I haven't seen such a thing so far.

In most areas of China, tap water is not hygenic enough to drink fresh, so it should be boiled to kill any bacteria inside. Virtually every Chinese person, apart from those lucky enough to live in a rural area with a purer water supply, boils their water when used with food or drink.

As for the cabbage, it's an issue of pesticide and chemical use on crops that makes most people wash or boil some vegetables before using. Yes, there are pesticides used on non-organic fruit and veg in the UK too, but in China there's little regulation on what pesticides are used and how much. In other words, the majority of Chinese assume to be on the safe side that a lot of pesticide has been used on their veg, and it's best to wash/boil it to help clean it. Usually boiled after being washed, because boiling alone won't help much.

Cleaning liquids specially designed for fruit and veg, which look like washing-up liquid, are sold in most places, and I use these to wash my veg. Water isn't really enough sometimes, to be honest.

So getting to the point - boiling water and cabbage was a habit that the student probably did all her life, and well, old habits die hard. I guess she just kept doing the same thing in the UK, because she might not realise that there is less or no need for it.

~As for this thread itself, I agree, it seems to have a bit of an air of poking fun at other cultural practices. Anything that other people do that seems weird to students in the UK, most of the time they're following the habits or practices they grew up with. Most of the people who study with me in China, all from different countries, settle in to the local how-do and culture well, but everyone keeps some of their old habits from home, myself included. Doesn't make us strange.

I've lived in Britain for a couple of years now, but I can see this thread from the other side. One thing that I always found different with people in the UK is that they don't really like learning other languages unless they have to...weird, I love languages.

fair point, I can't say I've ever had much experience with china/chinese culture myself, so I might have been speaking out of turn to some extent.

Yeah, I had this one friend who would only eat wild animals alive, make money by stealing hubcaps and had an amazing tendency to thieve. I think he was from Liverpool or something?

I've noticed that a LOT of the Chinese students will come into the shop and buy those 5L bottles of water a lot, and if we have regular bottled water on sale they will buy crates of it! I don't know if they just don't like tapwater, or if they think it's actually bad to drink, but it makes the environmentalist inside me die a little each time XD However, I do find cultural differences very interesting! I lived with a Chinese girl in first year who thought it strange that Brits usually only have one meal for dinner - she would always say that in China they had lots of little dishes for dinner, to have lots of little tastes. I guess that's why there are so many Chinese Buffets.

Why should you find it weird. Just because you have your British way of life and culture, does that mean people who have their own way of life and culture are weird. Not surprised, it's just a typical arrogant attitude shown by Brits.

as opposed to the arrogance you have just shown in believing that you are superior to 60 million white British people.

I must admit when I went around a new friends house from Omar and he started boiling up 4 tea bags in a pot I did find it a bit weird....but I guess these are the different customs for making tea.

Have you had any strange encounters with the mundane with students from different cultures?

Yeh, I believe so.

Brits, pffffttt!

But you just denounced arrogance whilst using arrogance? Correct me but surely that is quite a blindingly obvious contradiction, and surely considering that you made such a blindingly obvious contradiction that shows that, despite your personal inflated beliefs about your own ego, you arent actually all that?