tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211583.post3117248880851511913..comments2024-02-10T08:13:07.736+00:00Comments on Round-The-World Barstool Blues: Yes, I bear a grudgeFrooghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211583.post-45613936007358312112010-02-16T03:20:40.338+00:002010-02-16T03:20:40.338+00:00Not that it was a bad party, as such, but... well,...Not that it was a <i>bad</i> party, as such, but... well, to my mind, it never quite achieved <i>critical mass</i>. We needed just a few more guests to give it some buzz. (If the missing 20 had all turned up, it would have been heaved out, but... we could have coped.)Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211583.post-27837667690942469632010-02-12T08:20:55.091+00:002010-02-12T08:20:55.091+00:00You have a point, Gary. I fear the people here ar...You have a point, Gary. I fear the people here are more 'superficial' in many ways. <br /><br />Perhaps it's something that this kind of environment tends to do to all of us. The fact that we're just dipping our toes experimentally in a foreign culture, are only here on a contingent or short-term basis, probably does make our relationships more intense <i>but less deep or lasting</i>. I think I've touched on this before, perhaps in my 'Dating in Beijing' posts.<br /><br />Then again, perhaps there's just so much going on out here that we're permanently distracted, our attention spans maxed out? There could also be an element of that.<br /><br />I wouldn't like to think that we're absorbing 'Chinese' vices of lack of foresight, lack of consideration, treating personal connections in a shallower more materialistic sort of way - but I fear that could also be a part of the problem.Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211583.post-28739893883325587762010-02-12T05:17:54.935+00:002010-02-12T05:17:54.935+00:00Ouch! Sorry to hear that. I know what you mean. Pe...Ouch! Sorry to hear that. I know what you mean. People in Beijing have this mentality that a houseparty is just like a rock gig or a bar opening or something, you can change your mind about whether to go or not on a whim. That just doesn't happpen here in the U.S. - someone invites you to a party at their place and you GO. I don't know if it suggests that 'friendships' are more superficial in an expat community.garynoreply@blogger.com