Translation needed (a note for the starers)

[雅各]

Hi,

We have a lot of people staring at us here in China. I'd like a small leaflet to give out to them. Could anyone please assist with a translation of the following into Chinese?

"I have given this to you because you stared at me. You may think I am a tourist in China. A tourist is someone who walks around taking photos of things he has never seen before. Because you stared at me, as if you have never seen a Westerner before, I want to ask you this question: Who has behaved more like a tourist?"

I'd much appreciate it. If the English itself isn't clear and a well written, logical sequence of thoughts, please feel free to amend.

Thanks,

雅各

[HashiriKata]

If the English itself isn't clear and a well written, logical sequence of thoughts, please feel free to amend.

I'd deffinitely amend it to the extent that there is nothing left to translate.

Seriously, when you give the leaflet to someone staring at you, all others would be curious enough to gather around you to have a piece as well . Can you imagine the scene you've created? Are you not drawing attention to yourself? Besides, as an observer, I feel repulsed at some people's teenage urge to teach whenever they go to another economy/culture.

Sorry if you don't find my reply helpful .

[雅各]

I certainly don't find your reply helpful.

"Besides, as an observer...", it's interesting that we're all the observers. Straight out of a social science humanities class.

Hey, I think your response is unnecesarily harsh. The other day I and my wife were looking for a place to change our baby's nappy (at 红山, 武汉, for those who know the area) and we ended up going to the corner of a park. From 30 metres away a woman came up and leant over us while we were mid-way with the usual "他几岁?". No matter how I tried to explain (without actually saying 滚出去) that her presense wasn't required she wouldn't leave. My Chinese is limited. I just thought it'd be great to have something to hand to her to think about the appropriateness of her actions, which at the time affected us greatly.

Your politically correct approach in thinking this has anything to do with "people's teenage urge to teach whenever they go to another economy/culture" is nauseating.

[gato]

It's not a half-bad idea, though I thought your original version was a bit too punchy.

Try this, 雅各：

虽然你是好奇，但请别老盯着我们，这样不礼貌，也使我们觉得不舒服。拜托了！

(Even though you are curious, please don't stare at us. It's not polite and makes us feel uncomfortable. Thank you!)

[HashiriKata]

I certainly don't find your reply helpful.

No problems! It takes the right type to appreciate what I was saying.

(It's a shame that I've already seen clearly that you'll spend the rest of your stay in China to moan about one thing or another. )

[mr.stinky]

"...change our baby's nappy..." "... thought it'd be great to have something to hand to her to think about the appropriateness of her actions..."

are we missing the obvious?

[Lu]

I'd change the 'baituo le' to 'xiexie', sounds much more polite to me. Although I agree with HashiriKata that the whole thing is not a good idea.

Yage, people don't stare at you because they think you're a tourist. They stare at you like you would stare at a Martian, you are something rare, something they don't see every day. You think this is impolite, and in your (and mine) culture it is, but in China it's not, so if you tell them it's impolite you are simply mistaken.

Also, they don't have bad intentions, they're simply curious. The leaflet you write in your first post is impolite, on the verge of rude. To hand that to people who are simply curious is, well, impolite on the verge of rude. Exactely the behaviour you accuse the starers of.

As to the baby thing: Chinese (so I've heard, no personal experience) love babies. They will just come up and talk to you about the baby, not to be rude, but just out of curiosity and friendliness. Why would you tell someone to Gunchuqu when she's just striking up a friendly conversation?

I hope you can become a bit more open-minded about China, or I'm afraid you won't enjoy your stay there. Next time people stare at you, or start talking to you out of nowhere, just chat with them, it improves your Chinese, it makes their day, and you won't be annoyed.

[雅各]

mr.stinky: Now THERE'S an idea!

HashiriKata: "It takes the right type to appreciate what I was saying." Exactly - and I'm just not that type - the type that obviously has a book on Japanese Keigo shoved so far up his arse that he's blinded to his rudeness to just about everyone else. No wonder you've racked up your 850 or so posts on here. Pure verbal diahorrea.

[HashiriKata]

雅各, what you've just said speaks very clearly about yourself, nothing else I need to add. I Just feel somehow sorry for China having to endure such dregs like you.

[雅各]

If I'm a dreg, then you're the complete opposite. And I don't know why you keep floating around this thread.

[HashiriKata]

I don't know why you keep floating around this thread.

To see when you'd have the sense to say thank you to any of those who have responded to your request for help, seeing that you seem to be more interested in behaving ungratefully

[pazu]

I tend to agree with HashiriKata, that 雅各 is a dreg. I don't mean that you're a dreg because you hate being like in a zoo, but the way how you deal with others staring at you would neither be useful or funny, and it's not witty or humorous enough to write your message this way.

What do you expect if you do this?

What's the message that you really want to give to those bystanders?

[雅各]

"To see when you'd have the sense to say thank you to any of those who have responded to your request for help, seeing that you seem to be more interested in behaving ungratefully "

Personal Messaging aside, I take it? I don't think you would usually be in the business of checking whether participants in this forum are writing back to say "thank you". Your original post to me was unnecesarily rude and I responded likewise. And furthermore, I find it ironic that you expect people to respond to one another with gratefulness in a forum in which you responded to my original post with the way you at first responded.

pazu: You sticking the boot in is a puerile attempt at, well... nothing constructive. You asked "What's the message that you really want to give to those bystanders?" I will tell you, in English:

"I have given this to you because you stared at me. You may think I am a tourist in China. A tourist is someone who walks around taking photos of things he has never seen before. Because you stared at me, as if you have never seen a Westerner before, I want to ask you this question: Who has behaved more like a tourist?"

You try carting a baby around Wuhan and see how you feel. I wouldn't be calling you a dreg if you got tired of - not only stares but as I explained - people actually coming up from 30 metres away to watch me changing a nappy! Read the whole thread and decide for yourself.

[gougou]

We have all been there, 雅各 (even though most of us probably without a baby.) And I guess most of us, at one point or another, had the same feelings as you had. But, at least for me, I got used to it over time, and I think that's exactly what you should do - get used to it! If you don't want to be a tourist, you'll have to do some fitting in!

It sure is going to be easier to change your personal mindset than that of 1.3 billion people around you. No matter what you do, you'll always have people staring at you in China (unless you were planning to print 1.3 billion copies...) Whether that spoils your day or makes you happy (or at least does not bother you) is entirely up to you!

One more thing: being in a foreign country is no easy task, on more aspects than this one. Try to keep an open mind (including towards members of this forum, no matter how unfortunate their wording )

[adrianlondon]

"Hello! I know I am in your country and that there are billions of you, but can you please stop behaving in a way you think is normal, and instead do what I say? I'm not going to talk to you - instead I'm going to hand you a piece of paper - as I'm very antisocial and just want to be left alone. In your country. By you."

[mr.stinky]

ok, here's the deal. you're a big 'ole laowai in china - you stand out like, well, like a laowai

in china. you're gonna get stared at, gonna get pointed at, talked about, and hello'd. why?

cause you're a friggin' laowai. afraid you're just gonna have to get used to it. accept it.

enjoy being the center of attention, cause when you go home you'll just be another old

putz with a couple kids.

sure, you can print up your little notes, but to what end? the chinese are doing what

chinese do. you can either accept it in good humor, or go hide in the expat bars. (or

go home, but i hate when people say 'if you don't like it, you can just leave.') what kind

of response will you have? dunno, try it. i assume they'll either ignore the little note,

or wander off, shaking their heads, thinking 'what an arrogant asshole.'

you do realize that the standards of privacy are very different in this country? what i don't

understand is how you could expect not to draw attention while changing the little

pink kid's diaper in a public place. jeepers, even in the public toilets, a crowd gathers

around to see mr. happy.

[雅各]

Hi Gougou,

Thanks for your perspective on this. I note that, although you didn't agree with my stance, you voiced your opinion in a kind, almost pastoral, way. If I have any lessons to learn from this thread, I'm far more likely to learn them from your mature, reasoned tone than from someone (who's never had kids and doesn't understand my position) who accuses me of behaving like a teenager.

雅各.

To the others (including adrianlondon's most recent assistance): Having never been one for political correctness or cultural relativism of any kind, I do believe that some cultural values are worth sharing or even worth being forced onto another. Shouldn't cannibalistic headhunters in Niu Ginea have changed their ways as a result of Western influence? I believe they should've. Of course a reductio ad absurdum argument could be given to push either view on this debate, which would take us even further off topic.

[pazu]

雅各: Sorry that I didn't know you have a baby, but if I had known it earlier I would rather suggest you to accept the fact that people love staring you because you're a laowai, you should do this with an open mind to show your kid as an example. If you are annoyed, your kid would be grown up as an easily annoyed person like you and this is always a karma coming back, like a cycle never ends. You tend to behave better in front of your kids, rather than showing them your temper everywhere. Or have someone told you this before?

Do you notice one thing, nobody here's ever tried to help you to do this very simple translation, it takes only five minutes but nobody wanted to do it? Now you see who got the "puerile attempt".

It's not difficult to come up with some stupid idea (like the one you have right now), but it's rather tricky to find others to help you with it. Carting a baby around with a stupid behaviour wouldn't help you to get any sympathy.

[雅各]

Yeah. I know what you're saying.

[雅各]

Pazu: "雅各: Sorry that I didn't know you have a baby" So, you go into a thread, read half of it and call someone a dreg. If you think my behaviour is questionable, it's a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Furthermore, scroll up. Someone did help me with an amended translation.

This is getting tedious. I'm responding to a few people who are basically saying the same thing.

If someone walks over to me from 30 metres away and leans over me and I give them a small slip of paper, it's a very different thing to going to a crowded bus stop and giving them to everyone.

You said "with a stupid behaviour" (sic), well, which is better: give a small slip of paper with everything you want to say? Or:

请问，不要看看我们。(met with silence)

(I continue): 不要动他。如果你感冒，你给他！(dopey stare continues)

(I try to elaborate): 你认识他吗？不认识。再见！

(all met with silence and a continued glazed look reflecting a stupidity which you're all defending).

Remember in the above that my Chinese is poor, which further illustrates my point, and the benefit of having a slip of paper to give.

Yes, difficult to get someone to help out, but easy to find someone who'll criticise. You're the same as the others who have. You called me a dreg pazu. And I call you a scum.