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Well, as you probably know, I've been in China. Leaving on July 4, Friday, it was an 11 hour flight to Japan, a 4 hour wait in Japan and then another 2 hour flight to Shanghai. It was very tiring, and as of now I still haven't gotten over jet lag because of this weird thing that adds up to about a total of 18 hours travelling (plus I was awake about 4 hours prior to the planes) so about 22 hours, and I didn't sleep much on the plane because my brother and I watched Vantage Point, 21, and 10000 BC.
Basically we got to Shanghai and went to our aunt's house and played some GTA4 the next day, then left on a train to Fuzhou (18 hour train). On the train we were pretty bored, so we talked about stuff like Starcraft 2, Teamliquid, MSG damage and Rick Roll (which my brother thought was a sushi roll made by a guy named Rick o.o).
I'm pretty overwhelmed by the astounding rate of development in China. When I was 8 it was a huuuuuge difference between now, and I've had the privilege to be able to come to china almost every year (I've been to china at age 5, 8, 11, 13, 14, and now at 15). Everyone used to ride bikes and stuff, and now they've been replaced with lots of scooters (although bikes are still quite prominent).
Also, I've really been overwhelmed as well by the skill of the drivers in China. I don't know where the stereotype that asians are bad drivers came from, but in China they are great drivers. The lanes are WAYYYY more narrow than in the states and also the drivers must be much more aggressive and watch out of lots of pedestrians and bikes. In America, it's first come first serve, but in China, if you're the first person to block another car off then you can go. Basically if you were an american driving in China, you would get nowhere.
I also really like the culture of China. Really, the elderly are much more respected and filial piety is much more honored as well. If an old person comes on a bus, someone immediately gives up their seat for them. When people are honking, it's not like the american honk of "FUCK YOU BITCH" but more of an announcement of relative location. Of course, after about 5 beeps it becomes a more urgent "GET OUT OF THE WAY RETARD".
Anyways, about Starcraft. I'm a bit disappointed that I couldn't finish the qualifiers and attend the pacific region 3rd qualifiers round 2, but oh well, there's always next year (which I'm for sure not going to China). The biggest disappointment is when I was playing (the day before I left) I realllly felt like I was at the top of my game, reaching a consistent level of 210 apm and really doing great, whereas generally I have been hovering around 160-180 apm.
Tomorrow I will be gone for about 4 days, but I hope you guys have fun playing against Sea[Shield] and all that other stuff! I'll have to watch the finals and everything and I can't wait to see how that turns out :DDD
  
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Nice try Wolf but enjoy your time in China. Spending time outside the US is always a great experience.
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On July 08 2008 08:38 Superiorwolf wrote:
Also, I've really been overwhelmed as well by the skill of the drivers in China. I don't know where the stereotype that asians are bad drivers came from, but in China they are great drivers. The lanes are WAYYYY more narrow than in the states and also the drivers must be much more aggressive and watch out of lots of pedestrians and bikes. In America, it's first come first serve, but in China, if you're the first person to block another car off then you can go. Basically if you were an american driving in China, you would get nowhere.
What you describe is exactly how they drive in south america, too. It's pretty horrible, and I'm confused as to how, what is this style of driving called, "clusterfuck", can be considered a mark of good driving..
Not to dampen your blog. 
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I can't tell you how much skill it takes to drive like that... and I've never seen a car accident in China yet in my many years visiting here. There's pedestrians, bicyclists and narrow streets, and yet they manage to drive quickly and without harm. The general populace in America has nowhere near the skill level of driving the Chinese taxi drivers and regular people have.
That's just my reasoning, at least 
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I was thinking just about the same thing about Asian drivers when I arrived here in Korea yesterday.
People weaved in and out of traffic in the most impossible ways.
I thought, 'man, these people are skilled.' Then I realized where the stereotype came from. The Asians used to doing these crazy things in their home countries probably tried to do the same in the States.
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On July 08 2008 09:35 dasanivan wrote:
I was thinking just about the same thing about Asian drivers when I arrived here in Korea yesterday.
People weaved in and out of traffic in the most impossible ways.
I thought, 'man, these people are skilled.' Then I realized where the stereotype came from. The Asians used to doing these crazy things in their home countries probably tried to do the same in the States.
Ahh that's a good point... it would have caused massive trouble on the roads in the States XD
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Mmm, I live in the most asian part of San Diego, and let me tell you. There is a reason that stereotype got popular.
I was really surprised to read they drive aggressive in China and Korea, because if you pull up to a 4-way stop with 3 asian in San Diego (especially OLD ASIAN LADIES) they will sit there for like 10 seconds not knowing whose turn it is, and sometimes all 3 of them will start inching forward. If I see asians at intersections, I always just take the turn first because they are incredibly timid drivers.
I just read what I wrote and it sounds racist, I'm not, but that is seriously a very common happening.
Actually, all old people really suck at driving, of all races. Elderly white guys are my second "danger" group I try to avoid.
Also, black people steal.
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It sounds like George Carlin style of driving to me. I was reading an article in Smithsonian about how chinese people are VERY personal. The guy who wrote the article interviewed a bunch of people, and while they seemed happy they were not very aware of the huge environmental problem that china has created over literally the last 5 years. Basically china lets the people do what they will with zero restrictions on business or anything like "guidelines" for manufacturing and such. This creates an enormous gap between the rich and the poor (if you thought america was bad, this is like 50x worse). It also fucks over the environment because they can make a shitload of factories and nobody says anything. There are so many pollution related deaths its ridiculous... So i guess it leads the people to fend for themselves almost 100% of the time.
what do you think about this superior?
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As for your skill dropping its been reported (somewhere scientific, but I'm to sure of the source) that the further away from your home the worse athletes get. That is a 22 flight with jet lag will easily drop your skill by 25%.
For example, for American Basketball there is a trend that the further a team has to travel to play an away game the more likely they are to lose it.
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Well there are like 1.337 billion people in China so of course a few of them are going to be good drivers. There are basically no rules on the road here even with red lights, so I think it's a miracle that people don't constantly crash into each other, but what I've seen it's mostly because people here on average drive a lot slower. People here are not courteous on the road and will park there car in the middle of the street if there were no other spots - this happened to me today on my way to work.
Perhaps it's different in Shanghai than Beijing, but here grown men will steal seats from old ladies if they could. It's pretty rare for someone to get up even for a woman with a baby - although it does happen sometimes. I thought it was more common for people to be courteous about their seats in California than they are here.
Let me know if you come up to Beijing - We've got a few TLneters up here.
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Nahh, don't think I'm coming to the Olympics this year... I'm confused because here in Shanghai and Fuzhou, the people drive extremely fast... both places are extremely courteous too... I am stopping in Beijing for a few hours but that's it.
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Hong Kong20321 Posts
china ftw
hope u enjoyed it XD
come to hk sometime and we can meet or whatev.
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Driving's pretty crazy. The "lanes" you call it aren't really lanes, they're more just guidelines that nobody ever follows. Tailgating is extremely popular. You can fit more than one car in a lane as well.
We're going to Xiamen today and Fuzhou in a couple, so maybe we'll see you there << >>
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Yeah totally -_-;; I will not be back in Fuzhou until Thursday night, we'll be traveling to Wu Yi Shan
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China is great.
If there's a four-lane road and traffic is bad, suddenly it will become a seven-lane road for no discernable reason.
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On July 08 2008 10:13 Hypnosis wrote:
It sounds like George Carlin style of driving to me. I was reading an article in Smithsonian about how chinese people are VERY personal. The guy who wrote the article interviewed a bunch of people, and while they seemed happy they were not very aware of the huge environmental problem that china has created over literally the last 5 years. Basically china lets the people do what they will with zero restrictions on business or anything like "guidelines" for manufacturing and such. This creates an enormous gap between the rich and the poor (if you thought america was bad, this is like 50x worse). It also fucks over the environment because they can make a shitload of factories and nobody says anything. There are so many pollution related deaths its ridiculous... So i guess it leads the people to fend for themselves almost 100% of the time.
what do you think about this superior?
Look buddy we need to feed ourselves first before thinking about all those complications.
Think about the industrial boom in all the countries, think back to the 1920s in the States, China is like that now. I can tell you its better than the communism way of dealing with things. Don't expect human rights and worker conditions until we become more aware of them(not now cuz everybody busy getting rich get it?)
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Chinese drivers in China are very aggressive dangerous drivers, it is very very bad and I much prefer the mannered drivings in the States.
Chinese Taxi drivers give me heart attacks.
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When would you be in BeiJing? Leave me your cellphone number via PM i'm going to China around 7/20 and I'll call you up for some meetings?
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On July 08 2008 17:22 evanthebouncy! wrote:Show nested quote +On July 08 2008 10:13 Hypnosis wrote:
It sounds like George Carlin style of driving to me. I was reading an article in Smithsonian about how chinese people are VERY personal. The guy who wrote the article interviewed a bunch of people, and while they seemed happy they were not very aware of the huge environmental problem that china has created over literally the last 5 years. Basically china lets the people do what they will with zero restrictions on business or anything like "guidelines" for manufacturing and such. This creates an enormous gap between the rich and the poor (if you thought america was bad, this is like 50x worse). It also fucks over the environment because they can make a shitload of factories and nobody says anything. There are so many pollution related deaths its ridiculous... So i guess it leads the people to fend for themselves almost 100% of the time.
what do you think about this superior? Look buddy we need to feed ourselves first before thinking about all those complications. Think about the industrial boom in all the countries, think back to the 1920s in the States, China is like that now. I can tell you its better than the communism way of dealing with things. Don't expect human rights and worker conditions until we become more aware of them(not now cuz everybody busy getting rich get it?)
yes but it involves 1.67 BILLION!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THE COMMIES
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EPT
