Planning

One of the "culture shock" moments I experience here is the different approach to planning between Chinese and western culture. In western culture, many of us like to have an advance detailed plan, know when things will start, when they will end, and what's expected of us. Chinese culture doesn't use this type of planning. (In fact, it's nearly impossible to buy an event book or planner here.) Here are a few examples of the differences in planning that I have experienced, or that friends here have shared with me:

1. Two western teachers are teaching two different sections of the same course. They are instructed to each submit a final exam to the department for approval. After submitting the exams, they are told that they must administer identical exams to all classes. This information was not given to them during the semester, nor prior to the instructions to write the exams. They must redo the exam.

2. A westerner accepts an invitation to dinner with a Chinese friend, and the dinner lasts much longer than the westerner anticipated. Other events are added in addition to the dinner, and a dinner invitation becomes a 6 hour event.

3. A westerner is invited to attend a gathering, but upon arriving at the gathering, discovers that they ARE the gathering, and they are expected to make a speech or do some other kind of performance.

4.  An activity you anticipate will last about 2 hours ends up lasting 10 hours or more.

These things aren't inherently bad or wrong in any way, they're a different method of carrying out activities than is usually done in western culture. Information is not given to you sooner because it isn't planned in advance, or it doesn't make it's way down the chain of command in a timely manner. Information isn't shared as openly and freely as it is in the West, nor is there an expectation (in my understanding) that it should be. Efficiency and timeliness are not necessarily the goals of a project, nor the markers of a project's success.

I mention this because people often ask me what I am learning in China. Here's one answer: that it's okay to let a lot of expectations go. Like many westerners, I feel more comfortable knowing when, where, why, what, and how much is expected of me. I don't always get that here. I've had to develop a sense of inner peace about my external experiences in a way I've never needed to before. And I've realized a lot of what I worried about doesn't matter as much as I thought it did. I don't know if this is zen, but's a good life lesson. I still might have initial inner-reactions as a westerner, but I'm thankful for the example of the Chinese people who have been through so much as a culture, for teaching me flexibility and offering me a new way of looking at what is really important.