HSK Exam - "Helloooooo....." - Page 2 -

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mpallard -

I honestly think the people who yell HEEELLOOOOO at foreigners think they're the only ones who
have thought of doing this.

I agree it's really anoying but I don't know what one could do about it. Usually I just do my best
to ignore them.



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wushijiao -

I think, in addition to what imron said, people from rural areas, and the such, just have never
imagined themselves using English as a language of communication. If you have ever taught in rural
areas, I'm sure you will have noticed that the first student to say something to the foreign
teacher in English usually recieves a huge round of laughter.

Another example, when I taught in Beijing, I had a really cool driver who would drive me around
from school to school. He was a chatter, and so I got a chance to practice my Chinese all day
long. Anyway, when we'd go to a specific restaurant for lunch, we'd go to sit down at the table,
and he would tell the staff something like, "他也在教我外语(....wait for it....):
Khalllloooo! Moshi! Moshi!!!"

The staff would almost hurt themselves laughing everytime.

So, the "Helllloooo" is a laugh at our expense, but we have to admit, in its our circumstances, it
is a pretty damn funny joke.

I just see the "hello", "laowai" and the staring as the flip side of being praised for even saying
the most simple Chinese, which is probably more encouraging than the "helllooo" is annoying. Both
stem for the fact that some Chinese people have absolutely no experience talking to foreigners.










Hero Doug -

I don't see the joke. :










aimei -

I am getting to understand after three months of being here that the Chinese are an extremely
isolated ppl that have pretty much zero experience or understanding of outside cultures, so can we
say that this attitude prevents them from seeing why the "laowai" or "helloooo" behavior is rude
and unwelcome?.....I did a great job the first month of ignoring it even while I felt pretty hurt
when they would point and laugh at me like I was some kind of monkey in a cage. But then after
hearing it for the hundreth thousandth time I started to glare and even tell them that this was
not appreciated, this did not make the slightest impression on them. I mean even if they are
incapable of understanding why this is rude (which I believe they are), wouldn't they at least
stop the behavior just for the very fact that it is clearly upsetting someone....sometimes I
really don't "get" the Chinese.










mrtoga -

I always get the irritating "hello" thing from high-school boys and drunk men (and occasionally
taxi-drivers, but I forgive them because most of them are bonkers anyway).

Most Chinese are embarassed by this kind of behaviour and wouldn't do it themselves. When young
lads do it I equate it with kids in England being a bit "lary", except in England they would be
more likely to moon people from passing cars or something - amusing for the participants but just
embarassing for everyone else.

When drunk middle-aged guys do it that is more pathetic. But at least it gives me a warning that I
am likely to get dragged into a tedious conversation about America's hegemony
(美国，就是霸道注意）　or the honesty of the Chinese
people　（中国人非常实在）. Or a rant about the Japanese. So I actually rather
appreciate this "hello" and adapt my generally friendly attitude as necessary......










gougou -

I think trying to link this behavior to a certain part of the Chinese culture is pointless. I had
a Japanese friend in France complain to me that she people would shout "ni hao" after her pretty
much on a daily basis.










adrianlondon -

I like random strangers sticking a hand in the air, fingers apart and saying "hellloooooooo!" to
me as I walk past. I'm usually completely ignored when walking around London, so I like the
attention.

I even enjoyed going to Xiangshan on National Day and having out-of-towners wanting to have their
photo taken with me. I'd always grab them back and get my friend to take another photo using my
camera.

I always wonder what happens when they show these photos to their friends. I have an excuse - I
can say "see that strange Chinese lad clinging to me? For some reason, he wanted a picture taken
with me, what a laugh!" but what excuse to they have? When their friend asked "do you know that
bloke?" they must surely reply "no, not got a clue who he is, but wow, he's white!!". Eh? Oh well.

I usually respond to "hellllloooooo!" by sticking my hand in the air and saying "kneeeee
haaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuu" in a similarly silly accent. Once, slightly worse for alcohol, I pre-empted
their hello's by just picking some random guy and doing my "knee hauu" thing. They're probably
posting complaints on laowai-forums.com as I type.










roddy -



Quote:

I always wonder what happens when they show these photos to their friends. I have an excuse - I
can say "see that strange Chinese lad clinging to me? For some reason, he wanted a picture taken
with me, what a laugh!" but what excuse to they have? When their friend asked "do you know that
bloke?" they must surely reply "no, not got a clue who he is, but wow, he's white!!". Eh? Oh well.

A friend of mine got really annoyed at me once when she showed me her photos from a trip to
Beijing and I couldn't stop laughing - there was at least an entire roll of shots of 'me and
random foreigners', and the looks on some of those people's faces was hilarious.










liuzhou -

I was grabbed (quite roughly) by a total stranger the other day and forced to pose. He was Korean.

This all reminds me of when I was a student in London (longer ago than I want to consider) and we
regularly amused ourselves by picking on Japanese tourists, following them around and making sure
we were somewhere in the background of every picture they took. They never noticed us, but we had
great fun imagining their reactions when they got home, developed the pictures and found these
strangers in every picture. (What we never considered was that they think we all look the same and
probably never noticed anyway!)

The benefits of higher education!










aimei -

Yeah I've had quite a few ppl ask for my photo at the major tourist sites, and that doesn't bother
me.....those ppl just seem genuinely curious and I will talk to them for a bit too and they get
pretty excited. I was just annoyed but the "hello" thing because I can't stand rudeness and after
three months the "joke" was getting pretty old.

btw does anyone know if talktalk china is only accessable from comps in foreigners apartments? At
our old place my bf and I could get on any site we wanted pretty much, but now we are living
somewhere else that doesn't have net so I have to go this net cafe and I can't get on here.....too
bad that was an awesome blog.












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