The Rabbit Hole: What Kind of ex-pat are you

A friend once said that 30% of all expats in China are insane.

I think that number is low.

I've met two kinds of crazy ex-pat in China. Those that went to China because they were crazy, and those that went crazy because they were in China.

I fall into the first catagory, and proudly so.

PS, you didn't tell me what kind of ex-pat you were.

Once again the foreign ex-pats have infiltrated my firewall and I cannot get the results of your honorable 11 questions. I shall spit at their feet and sneeze on their noodles.

Good work! I'm with Dave, BTW - I reckon over 30% of expats in China are weird, and many of those who aren't get weird while they are there...

Well adjusted Ex-Pat

China might not be everything that you expected, but you can accept it for what it is. After all, it would be no fun if you knew everything before you came, and it's not as if China is being like that just to spite you.

China has it's good points, which are very good, and its bad points, which you don't dwell on.

You also accept that you can't really make much of a difference and so you don't really try all that much.

You have a small collection of open minded Chinese friends with whom you can talk openly about touchy topics, but, for those who are not open minded, you know not to press the point too much. All in all though you are more interested in hearing about them and China, than in telling them about you and your country. And you have no intention of spoiling a good friendship by inserting your foot into your mouth for the sake of a debate.

You can speak some Chinese and, even if you are not very good at it, you still try. When you get home, you will show off your Chinese language skills to your friends.

Of course I'm not there now...and there were a couple of questions that really stymied me. Oh, the piracy one...

So what other kinds of expats are there?

The "subject" line font is kind of small, so I realize that my last post might not make much sense...I tested "well-adjusted" too - which might be giving me the benefit of the doubt since I'm not an expat at the moment!

But I was wondering what the other sorts of expats are...

Thanks to ACB, I now find that I am a:

"Restrained Crusading Foreigner"- Though mostly tongue in cheek, I gotta agree more or less with this asessment!

Although you like some things about China, and can often manage quite well there, you never fully accept China for what it is Warts and All, or that it should be like it is just because it is China.

You believe that China should be changed or reformed, though not necessarily using western benchmarks, and that the people deserve more in terms of wealth, freedom of speech, and respect from the state.

You have strong opinions that don't always match up with the local way of thinking, but you tend to keep them to yourself when in public, because you think that saying so would just make it sound like you were an interfering know-it-all foreigner.

Though you might not approve of everything you see, you sometimes pretend that you do, or that you haven't noticed the way that things are, so as to avoid saying something that you might regret.

You almost certainly have a varied circle of Chinese friends, both from at work and from where you live, and you say some of what you think to those who are willing to listen, or at least eager to debate.

You also probably have a blog, where you like to believe that you write well rounded articles about China, but where you actually often end up judging China by your own cultural standards.

Unless particularly dedicated though, you will probably stop or change your blog soon after leaving China.

There are also times when you just can't keep quiet, or when you get so frustrated that you end up comparing China to a more advanced country, like America or Japan.

Your ability to speak Chinese is entirely dependent on the amount of time that you spend in China and the amount of effort that you put in, but it is unlikely that you will leave China without being able to get through simply task unaided.

When you go back home, you will continue to read up on human rights in China, even if you didn't before you left, and will be glad to be able to discuss things more openly.

My results stated that I'm a "Well Adjusted Ex-Pat". However, I didn't really find most of the choices given to be applicable. Of course, I assume ACB created that little quiz tongue-n-cheek anyway.