you don't change China China changes you I find that this has become increasingly true over the
years that I have spent in China and Michael from expat survival has got a group of YouTube creators
here in China to talk about the habits that they have picked up while living here in China so let's
get right into it one happened that I picked up living in China was never taking my wallet with
me when I leave the apartment when I used to live in the US if I didn't bring my wallet with me I
would feel naked I'd be like how do I pay my bills if I go to a restaurant how do I pay without a
debit card or cash well in China I'm actually so used to e payments that I just need to bring my
phone with me I use my phone to make payments for food whether it be at a restaurant or for
takeout to pay for my gas in my vehicle to get a subway ticket at the subway to even shop online
because it is that convenient it's actually quite dangerous because it only takes three to five
seconds to make a payment which can result in you actually paying and spending more money and trust
me when I say this but it is so easy to make a QR code to receive payments whether you're a small
shack in a market or you have a large store in the mall some places even accept just your face for
payments to be registered properly beforehand Alex what about you what's a habit that you picked up
living in China right so happy I picked up here in China is definitely something that I always
into splice Chinese and English together whether I'm talking like Messi text messaging and I text
message like half English half pinging Chinese or if I'm speaking to my friend mother foreign
friends sometimes my Chinese wife sense with other Chinese friends I always kind of had this habit of
like you know inter splicing words and actually this is quite common among a lot of foreigners so
it's not uncommon to be out at a bar coffee shop or just to work with other foreign friends and
be having this weird half English half Chinese conversation or just like into sprinkled words
that you can't remember in English because after a while it kind of gets like that so are you coming
to the party how many people gonna be there 10 or 12 laowai oh cool can be my girlfriend bro hold up
haode about youth Nicky with the telephone your hand you speak only in vowels this isn't to say
your mind isn't trying to communicate true story nobody multitask well you identify someone talking
in the background your brain high-end dopamine and eager to blasts a few more bugs and Galica
or perhaps McCann not so safe worth double entendre comparison to the political climate
in your country to Anne Hathaway's panties on social media and thus interpret these visceral
attempts at verbal communication more or less like Charlie Brown's teacher it's rude discourteous
cheeky disrespectful and uncivil after all good manners dictate one trip with their phone down
and focusing wind or a co-worker is mindlessly droning on about his fantasy football league
or unconventional uses of hand sanitizer well that's just wrong but the question remains is
it rude to be using your phone when conversation is directed at you or maybe in a business meeting
in a movie I mean in the West the answer is clear duh but in China we come full circle back to the
500-pound gorilla where does a 500-pound gorilla sleep anywhere he likes so why do people in China
focus on their phone instead of anyone else of course we all rather be focusing on our phone
rather than listen to someone else's drivel and who wouldn't why not social etiquette says you
can't but in China you can is it rude of course it's a social equivalent to scratching your balls
in public but in China it's more of a social faux pas that's become a social fo sho since everyone
here is doing it the fact that you're focusing on your phone not scratching your balls it's a
very simplistic thought process my phone is more interesting therefore all this pay hence my phone
that's calling this out cause both parties to lose face nobody does it and thus everybody
pretends like they did notice that you did in the first place problem solved as a foreigner in China
it's easy to adapt your new environment therefore the local behavior becomes the new normal this is
of course not a problem so long as you're in a society that tolerates this but once you're back
in Western society you may quickly find yourself a social pariah now hang on them yeah wait a minute
hey thanks Nagi it is part of the Chinese culture to be a good host and provide the best possible
experience for their guests they want to take care of the people around them this is very clear
when it comes to paying the bill for a meal the finances of most Chinese families are handled by a
single individual and paying the tab it's usually the responsibility of this person when taking
out a large group of extended family members or friends it gets a bit more interesting in China
it is culturally acceptable for one person to pay the bill for the entire evening they don't
regularly split the price and everyone pays their share as is normal in Western countries at the end
of the evening and everyone is full and satisfied this is when they start doing what I like to call
the dance many are all individuals declare that they will be the one to pay for everything this
can turn out to be quite the comical scene as they beg plead debate with each other back and
forth - who should honor whom to pay for their meal this is all for show the host wants to pay
to show he or she is a gracious host guests want to pay to show their equal measure of gratitude
neither wants to let the other pay and possibly shown to be less generous in some cases even if a
person is financially at a disadvantage and can't afford it they're still expected to take part in
this dance but then regretting Lee surrenders to let the other person pay instead this all of
course is sometimes avoided if someone goes and secretly pays the bill before the others realize
it this is certainly a habit that I have had to get used to being married into a Chinese family
what about you Angela oh now eating with a fork and a spoon just doesn't feel the same living
in China for a while has definitely changed my eating habits I find myself constantly looking
for the chopsticks instead of a fork and a spoon I know it sounds weird but I just find
eating things with chopsticks to be normal and incredibly convenient I mean all I need is two
pieces of wood or plastic in some cases and I can just cram rice and food into my mouth and
not only that even when I'm in restaurants now instead of patiently waiting for the waiter to
walk on over I could just yell out in public for her to come over him or her be like hey waiter and
the restaurant I don't even say please and really say thank you that does that mean I'm impolite no
it's just how it is over here what's happening am i becoming Chinese and the restaurant is a public
place in China and you know eating is supposed to be a time of enjoyment and and talking with
your pals and your family but in China it's tuned up to the next level I mean you're talking very
loud and and it other people are too and you know what it's kind of exciting it was
and I should probably clean up after myself you know put my tray away and throw my garbage oh
wait no I don't have to do that in China nice now all of these new eating habits and everything have
been ingrained in me so well when I go back to America sometimes I'll completely ignore the
fact that I need to stow my tray away or I need to put my garbage in the garbage bin and and I need
to be quieter and I don't need to yell out for the waiter to come over to me and I need to be
more polite and say thank you and please oh and I need to ask for a fork whoa look at the time
I need to tell Fernanda to get up hey Fernando wake up good morning Angelo you watching one of
the Chinese habits that I have incorporated into my life sleeping inside a mosquito net I used to
feel claustrophobic at first but I have learned to appreciate it the next habit I incorporated
into my life well you can see it for yourself and fYI no this is not tea this is a hundred percent
Columbian coffee yeah and well since you haven't guessed it yet here it is I walk outside in my
pajama pants for a couple of reasons knowing that my dog has been holding it all that long reminds
me to take her out as soon as possible and well having seen year after year Chinese people from
all walks of life wandering the streets in their pajamas I have come to appreciate how convenient
and carefree it feels and the quicker I get back inside the sooner I can indulge in the next habit
eating sesame seeds well being watching Dig Dug videos so what about you Austin what are you up
to as for me personally living in China the thing that has changed over the years dramatically is
my perception in my use of public transportation and private transportation so let's talk about
that while I was living in the USA I had exactly one form of transportation that was my car I used
my car to go absolutely everywhere no matter what the distance was if it was a mile or a half-mile
I would just always take my car because you're walking taking a bus that's not cool like taking
a bus isn't cool but in China the thing that you will notice is that public transportation is so
well developed even in like smaller cities or even in towns you can get buses for 1 to 2 UN
you can get these shared bikes for like 1 or 2 UN per hour you can you know take DD which
is sort of like uber you can walk China is an immensely walkable country and when I look at
the pragmatics of living here and looking at costs I just don't see the point of having a car here
and I think when I go back to the States or to wherever I may go next I don't think I'm gonna
have a car I'm gonna go somewhere with public transportation because it's just easier to deal
with here and that is something that has really really changed I would never have thought about
having this sort of opinion back home but now it's completely changed and opened up my world oh sorry
thanks for that Austin now for those of you that know me I love my food so I've grown up
with kind of that Western concept of bigger is better buy in bulk yes I am going to consume 4
litres of Cola somehow on my walk home I always had that viewpoint of independent grocers and
those little groceries being full of Oh got it get my brand muffins and make some intruder seriously
though I kind of didn't venture into them as much with kind of that viewpoint that they were going
to be often as they are in Western culture more expensive and not have the range that I'd like
to get but I've been shopping in little verses and my local just like you know small outlets and I'm
finding there are products that I can't usually buy in the big franchises and amazingly enough
to the prices highly-competitive there'll be days where I'll go stop by one two or even three small
grocers on my way home just to get excited about seeing the range of products that they might have
and the bargains that I could find so call me an oldie if you will but this is a habit that
I've picked up while I was in China now back to you Austin and there we have it we have a bunch
of different habits that expats have picked up in China from food to chopsticks independent grocers
he payments as well as my own habits it's a great thing to have a bunch of people get together and
talk about how China has changed us so I want to thank the we collab group for this little
opportunity for all of us to get together and thank Michael in particular and yeah it's been a
good time so hopefully you've learned something about what may happen to you if you move over
here to China and that's about it they go very much for watching I'll see you all next time