a post about American teenagers

[chichi]

"今天碰到的事让我对美国人的映象彻底改变。

下午骑了单车出去闲逛，半路上遇到一小群小女孩（估计也就小学初中生）。没想到我接

着就成了他们的取笑对象，更准确的说是玩弄对象。先是最小的那位朝我车的前轮吐痰，

然后很无辜的说“Sorry”。我当然没在意，很有礼貌的回她“That's Ok！”。还没说完

，前面两个装作在开玩笑，其中一个"哗"的一下向我这边撒出小半瓶饮料，还没等我完全

转过头来，前面的饮料就已经全溅到我身上了。然后又是那副显得很无辜的表情说“

Sorry”。看她们开心的样子，才知道存心玩我。但是她们却都是十几岁的小孩子，动手

？太不像样了阿！然后就想试着跟她们说点什么。可是实际情况是她们见我没办法，觉得

挺爽，接着拿出笔记簿，怪叫我“Jacky Chen，Jacky Chen”，快帮她签名，给她像片，

尔另一个在边上舞手舞脚“哼哼哈兮”起来。见她们那样无理取闹，当时不想多纠缠，走

了算了。没想到她们还不依不饶起来，两个一前一后抬轮胎，非得让我签名不可。更可气

的是，后面那个最小的女孩居然朝我身上吐痰！当时怒火一烧，摔了车，冲到她面前，真

想上去扇她一巴掌。小姑娘连忙双手挡了起来。然后我才扶起车子，推着车走掉，不过后

面还是有挺难听的话,我也就只能当没听见了...

几点自己的想法：

1.当时骑的是一辆和老式的自行车（用脚踏板刹车的那种），她们最开始曾丢掉一辆自行

车。后来时不时的指着那辆车叫我捡走那辆。难道在她们眼里，我（还是指我们中国人）

成了捡垃圾的了？（当然我要声明一下，我长相，穿着绝对没给中国人丢脸。）

2.她们还说“we don't support food”。我（或是我们中国人）是到美国来跟他们要饭

吃的？

几点疑问：

1.这种事情是针对我个人，还是对中国人？如果是对我个人，大家觉得以后该怎么做来避

免这种事情再次发生？如果是对中国人，大家又有什么建议？

2.这能不能算是歧视呢？如果是的话，而且又是几个本该天真无邪的小女孩，这能说明一

些美国社会普遍的对华态度吗？（毕竟什么样的家长，什么样的孩子）

3.我是刚来美国，对校外的事情了解很少。想问问类似的事情在美国多吗？碰到了该怎么

办？（不仅仅是怎么避免）

还有一点感想：

刚来这里时，觉得这边真的都好有礼貌，“Thank you！”“Exuse me”“Sorry”总挂在

老美嘴边。今天听到那两个小女孩的“Sorry”后才明白什么是“虚伪”“虚伪礼仪”。

就象老美见面就问“How are ya?”， 可是并不真的关心你怎样是一个道理。挂在嘴边的

并不一定是发自内心的！有和没有又有什么区别？

即使是刚到的时候，就对美国没有特好的映象，没有归属感。现在更加坚定了自己回国的

决心。“寄人于屋檐之下”的感觉很糟糕，尤其是当主人不怎么欢迎你的时候。

--

※ 来源:·BBS 未名空间站 http://mitbbs.com·[FROM: 164.107.]"

Are American teenagers really so wild? I've met some in my neighbourhood. But they seem to be shy and friendly.

How about you guys? What did you think about China when you were teenagers? Is there a big change about China after you grow up?

[Yang Rui]

I've got not reason to disbelieve this story. I don't know anything about America, but in the UK, where i'm from, many kids are vicious little shits.

You asked "are american teenagers really so wild?" Well, I'm sure some are. Obviously not all of them are. In the UK, it depends largely on what kind of area you're from. I grew up in a fairly prosperous small town where most of the kids around me were fine. Of course there were a few bad apples, but you get that anywhere.

But then I went to university in a bigger city, and lived in a fairly poor area. The kids there were just plain malicious. They enjoyed inflicting pain on people, and their parents did not care one iota. Sometimes they would seem fine, and then other times they would throw bricks and bottles at people. Once, standing outside a friend's house, a bottle suddenly smashed on the wall next to me. I turned around to see a group of kids just standing there, grinning. They didn't run. They weren't scared. They knew that no one could do anything to them. I mean, what can you do? You can't hit them - they're kids. If you say anything to them they will attack you. They hang around in the street all the time, so you can never be sure what will happen when you walk out of your house. Lots of people live like this.

What could the reason be? Poverty is not really an excuse because there are lots of poor people whose children don't roam around the streets in packs attacking people. I just don't know. But it's a real problem and it's getting worse.

[in_lab]

One time a little kid walked up to me and spit on me while I was waiting somewhere. I wondered if it had anything to do with the fact I am a foreigner. This kid's father (?) half-heartedly scolded the kid. When another person came along and waited nearby, the kid spit on him too.

1.这种事情是针对我个人，还是对中国人？

You look different from them, and maybe you look easy to bully, in some way. Being Chinese probably had something to do with it, but I'm sure that the girls do not have a problem only with Chinese people.

如果是对我个人，大家觉得以后该怎么做来避

免这种事情再次发生？

If you are on your bicycle, then just keep on riding. Don't stop to talk to them.

如果是对中国人，大家又有什么建议？

It really doesn't matter whether it was against Chinese people. You'll be happier if you just avoid them.

[Xiao Kui]

Chichi,

I am so sorry this happened to you in my home country. I can't change what happened to you, but I want apologize on behalf of our country for how you were treated. This is not normal behavior for American teen-agers, and I hope nothing like that ever happens to you again. But if you're ever in a similar situation again and you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to take that kind of treatment. Don't bother being polite to unfriendly people, just get out of there as fast as you can!

I hope your stay in America gets better - there are really some great people there who are interested in China and want to be friends with Chinese. I know that after 1 month in China I was ready to go home, but I felt like I should stay just a little longer and I ended up staying 5 years. I didn't really start to like China until the third year I was there, but I'm glad I stayed because now I love it.

即使是刚到的时候，就对美国没有特好的映象，没有归属感。现在更加坚定了自己回国的

决心。“寄人于屋檐之下”的感觉很糟糕，尤其是当主人不怎么欢迎你的时候。

You said that this incident has made you even more determined to go back to China. What are some of the other things that have discouraged you from staying in the States?

Maybe we can help you deal with them.

Also, what is Storrs, Connecticut like? Are there lots of other Asians there? I've never been there but I have lived in a very small American town before, and sometimes small-town people are more suspicious of those that appear to be outsiders (I am not trying to justify what these kids did, I'm just suggesting that something like that is perhaps less likely to happen in a larger city where a lot of cultures live together.) On the other hand, small towns have their advantages as well, and you can meet many friendly, intelligent, and open-minded people there if you give it some time.

You have probably already noticed that Americans are not nearly as 热心 or 好客 as Chinese when it comes to welcoming foreign guests. Now I am not talking abt these teen-agers, but Americans in general. That doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't interested in being your friends, but you will have to be somewhat 主动 if you want to meet people with common interests and make friends. This is not just true for foreigners, but even for Americans when they move to a new town. I know this from experience because as a child my family moved around a lot, and the first months in a new place (the first time it was a whole year before I had good friends because I was very shy and passive about the whole thing) were always very lonely.

Anyway, I hope tomorrow is better for you and you meet some friendly Americans instead!

[chichi]

Thank you Xiao Kui.

This post was actually written by someone else and I simply took it and posted it here.

Storrs is a nice place to stay. Bec Uconn is Storrs and Storrs is Uconn basically. (oops! I finally exposed my school:mrgreen: )People are either students or faculty or staff. They are very nice generally.

There are many Asians especially Chinese here. This is bec of a very interesting difference between China and the US. I will talk about this in another thread.

However, to myself, there do exist some reasons for which I would like to go home.

first I'm the only child of my parents

second I can't have so much delicious food here

third, carpets are everywhere which induces my ezema

fourth, I like to hang out or take a stroll when in CHina. There are many small boutiques along the streets. But here you either have malls or outlets both of which require a long driving.

hehe

Generally, where I stay is a nice place. I enjoy staying here except that my study sucks which drives me crazy.

[in_lab]

Didn't notice that line

※ 来源:·BBS 未名空间站 http://mitbbs.com·[FROM: 164.107.]"

What does FROM: 164.107 mean? I couldn't find the original post.

[chichi]

Don't you know that there is something called IP in the world?

But MitBBS only displays the first two sets of numbers of your ip adress if you post on it.

[chichi]

to in_lab

r u working in a sort of lab?

BTW

mitbbs is very different from the forums you guys have visited.

The server's running mode is different. You can not only view the forum via internet explorer, but also via telnet or f-term which were developed many years ago by a student of Peking university. This kind of forums are poplular among China's universities. The first page of this forum displays the posts with most replies and with telnet or f-term you don't have to refresh to webpage to view new posts. The posts display as soon as they are posted.

mitbbs was established by Chinese students who studied in MIT. Then it developed into the most popular forum in North America among Chinese here.

[in_lab]

So what good is it to know the beginning of the IP address? I thought you probably posted that info because it is useful is some way, but I don't see how it is useful.

Bulletin boards are popular in Taiwan, but I've never seen any that are accessible over both the web and telnet. It looks pretty interesting, but my access is blocked by some filter, so I can't view any of the posts.

The "lab" is just a computer lab, nothing interesting. And I'm not there now anyway.

[roddy]

It's included by some forums software as a reminder that IP addresses are recorded I think, and perhaps to let anyone who cares get a rough geographical location of the poster.

[in_lab]

Thanks Roddy.

Now back to those wild American kids...

[gato]

In this situation, I think it's just best to give them a "you're so childish" stare and move along. Don't even say anything. Saying anything back in less than perfect English would just confirm their worst racist instincts.

At least that's what I would do. One evening, two, three years ago, I was walking down a fairly busy street in San Francisco, and a high-school-age kid suddenly jumped in front of me with a scream, making mock kung fu moves. Five or six other high school kids were with him, and they all laughed. I just gave them a disgusted look and then walked on without saying anything. I was startled and pissed off, of course, but if I had cursed at them or try to fight them, it would have just given them what they wanted. These were f-ed up kids. Normal kids would know better than do this with strangers in the innner cities.

[DrinkDrankDrunk]

Meh. Teen boppers. At that age they'll tease anyone about anything, whether it be race, braces, glasses, big ears, etc. Maybe they're teasing her because of her polka dot two-speed schwinn with training wheels and hot-pink pompoms on the handles. If apathy doesn't offer enough solace, a swift kick in the ovaries to stop their genetic lineages should suffice.

Now as to American teenagers being wild, I'd recommend that you take a trip down to Panama City Beach/Cancun/Acapulco/Ibiza at this time of the year and let us know...

On a side note, does anyone remember Pogs?

Oh, and UConn sucks. My bracket is ruined. The Huskies vs. Huskies game will ensure confusion for the cheering masses.

[mind_wander]

in_lab,

I do understand the ackwardness when you into the classroom or environment. It is the lack of Asian diversity. If there was about 50% in each city in the U.S it can both ways on this, either Americans think that Asians are invading the US society or it will show Asians are not that different and willing to make friends.

Although, I do get alot of blank stares when I am presenting something because I do stand out as the only Asian-American in class. This is very hard, once broken the protected barrier with other minorities then extends to others.

Any of you got, questions can send replies. Also, yes, American teengers do like to drink, smoke drugs at a very young age, but depends where you live in the area.