What if there was a Chinese Version of "Ask Amber, guide to Western Culture"?

That would be a really interesting show!

yeah great idea!!! maybe i can work these into the show!

This is a really interesting idea. I really hope we hear from some of the Chinese members about what questions they have, once had, or even questions their friends might have had. At first glance I thought I would be able to contribute many but none come to mind quickly. I can think of two that I have heard. -How do you spend all your money? -Why dont you take better care of old people? I find one of weixiao's questions very interesting. What is the difference in how we view the need for, and the use of apologies? Can someone comment on further on that? How often do the Chinese say Im sorry and in what situations compared to westerners? Are apologies meaningful? Do they represent a loss of face in some cases?

Obviously this thread is not about an improbable "guide to Western CultureS".It's about a guide to north-american Culture. I won't over analyse that mistake but please be careful.

bbjt, as I said above, these are examples of actual questions that have been asked of me. I happen to be American, so, of course, my examples would reflect that. But anyone can play this game.

"Why do you play games where there is no [monetary] risk?" It took me a while to understand what these two guys were asking me when I was at college. "There's no riss.. no riss.." Then I realised they were actually saying "There's no risk".. and I put 2 and 2 together and understood the meaning.

Interesting topic Weixiao. Why do Westerners (Americans) say "I love you" so much (easily)?

thanks for bumping this one Brent. I really wish we would get more response here.

I agree with you RJ, I'd also love to hear insights from some native Chinese...Cassie, bjnewer, sophie, etc....

After being told that Chinese people live in smaller homes and require less bedroom/living space, I was surprised to be asked "Why is your house so very small!" It is a normal two bedroom plus sunroom old fibro house, large kitchent, etc, with just me living in it. Strange question! Turns out the question was really: You have enough back yard to hold three more of these houses, so why is your house not four times its size so that it fills the whole block of land?

Maybe how to answer chinese friends questions about western lifestyles would make a good chinesepod lesson?

And of course: "Is it true that you can drive as fast as you can on a German highway"?. There are even tourist tours for experiencing German highways. I read those are pretty scary for the tour guides.

"Your government does not care how many children you have? You can have as many you like? And how do you afford more than one?" I've never been asked those questions, since I don't have a family myself, but I witnessed Chinese asking this kind of questions.

How about, "Why are you so obsessed with bathrooms (toilets)? Doesn't that topic always get high response in Chinesepod?

And that reminds me: "Why don't the toilet partitions go floor-to-ceiling?" Personally, I could care less about the partitions...what is more important is that the toilet isn't just a hole in the floor!

Speaking of bathrooms, did anyone ever get a photo of the infamous bathroom at the factory? We've all heard so much about it, but as they say, a picture is worth a 1000 words.

calkins, nothing special about it. It was OK.

calkins, what's wrong with just a hole in the floor? As long as it is clean... That's already asking much in some areas

I really like this idea.

There are some incidents I know of where (middle-aged male) Chinese visitors thought the west is a place bereft of morals, Sodom and Gomorrah. Read: A happy place where free love reigns. To their utter disappointment, live is pretty normal here, too. But I think that this kind of misunderstanding is not as common with the newer, better connected & informed generation...