跨文化交际英文案例课件.doc
北京京北职业技术学院-中考动员大会
Case 1 Girl-ness
As a visiting
professor in an American university, Zhang Hua was
invited to
give a lecture to a group of
American students. He talked about university
students in China. During the question-and-
answer period after the lecture, one
female
student asked a question that surprised Zhang Hua.
about female students, you referred to them as
girls. Why?
“Because they are girls. That?s
what they are called,
“When you talked
”
” Zhang Hua tried to
“ I answer, but he
knew he did not really understand the tinent of
the question.
don?t quite understand your
question, I?m afraid. ”
“In the States, we
call ourselves , women? if we?re old enough to go
to the
university. Calling us ,girls? is
insulting. ”
Do Chinese female college
students prefer to be called women?
Case 2
Many years ago, a Chinese man showed a photo
of his wife to some American
visitors. Out of
courtesy, they all said, ” She is very beautiful.
” Also out of
courtesy, the man replied with
what he would have done in Chinese under the
circumstance”, Where! Where! ” Quite taken
aback, nobody said anything for a
moment,
until the most ingenious one among the visitors,
taking another look at
the photo, said, “Oh,
everywhere! ”
“ Where! Where! ”? What did the
Chinese intend to mean by replying with
Case 1
Girl-ness
As a visiting professor in an
American university, Zhang Hua was invited to give
a
lecture to a group of American students. He
talked about university students in China.
During the question-and-answer period after
the lecture, one female student asked a
question that surprised Zhang Hua. “When you
talked about female students, you
referred
to them as girls. Why? ”
”
Zhang Hua tried to answer, but he “Because they
are girls. That?s what they are called,
knew
he did not really understand the intent of the
question. “ I don?t quite understand your
question, I?m afraid. ”
“In the States, we
call ourselves , women? if we?re old enough to go
to the university.
Calling us ,girls? is
insulting. ”
Do Chinese female college
students prefer to be called women?
Case 2
Many years ago, a Chinese man showed a photo
of his wife to some American visitors. Out of
courtesy, they all said, ”She is very
beautiful. ” Aols uot of courtesy, the man replied
with
what he would have done in Chinese under
the circumstance, ” Where! Where! ” Quite taken
aback, nobody said anything for a moment,
until the most ingenious one among the visitors,
taking another look at the photo, said, “Oh,
everywhere! ”
What did the Chinese intend to
mean by replying with “ Where! Where! ”?
Case
3 “IJust Wanted to Talk ” .
Wu tong was a
graduate student in a Chinese university. Like
many students these days,
he was very keen on
learning English. He would talk with English
speakers as often as he
could.
One day, he
saw a new foreigner on campus, Leonard Ramsay, and
overheard him
speaking English. When Mr.
Ramsay finished speaking with the other person, he
turned to
go, but Wu Tong stopped him. He went
up and said, “ You speak English, is that right?
“Yes, why? ”
“I?d like to practise my
English withyou, if you don?t mind. ”
Mr.
Ramsay looked a little annoyed. “ I prefer not to,
if you don?t mind. ”
Case 4 An Unwanted Food
Service
”
During a lunch buffet at a
conference in China, Wu Fa, the interpreter of the
conference,
sat with four foreign
participants. They were having a good time
talking. When Wu Fa stood
up for more food,
she asked whether she could bring anything back
for them.
Everyone thanked her and said “ no”
. A while later, Wu Fa came back with a plate full
of food, and asked whether the others would
like to have something from her plate.
Again,
the four others said , “ No”.
” “ Oh, please
take something, I can?t eat this much food myself.
The foreigners shrugged and one or two of them
even frowned a little.
Case 5 Simple Can Be
Special
Wen Hong had an American professor in
her economics class in China. She had given the
professor a lot of help during the course. At
the end of the semester ，the professor and his
wife invited her to their home for dinner.
They said they were going to cook her an American
meal.
Wen Hong felt very flattered and
excited，since McDonald，KFC and Pizza Hut
had
been her only exposure to Western cooking.
They had salad to start with，then steak with
potatoe，s followed by ice cream.
Wen Hong had
expected more courses but the meal came to an end.
She knew
the professor and his wife were being
kind to h，er but somehow she was a little
disappointed. She wondered whether Americans
do eat like that at home.
Case 6 Chinese
Coffee Customs
While studying in the United
States, Lin Jun made a few American friends.
One day he invited two of them to his
apartment and cooked them a meal. When
his
friends said they would like some coffee, he
started boiling some water.
Without asking
them any questions, he made threecups of 3-in-1
coffee, the
way he usually took it.
Both
friends tasted the coffee and frowned. One said
she always took coffee
black，the other said he
preferred to have less sugar in his coffee. They
also told
him that the spoon is for stirring
the coffe，e not to drink from like he did.
Lin
Jun was embarrassed. He had thought
that everyone drank coffee the same way
as he
did.
Case 7 Noise from Noodles
Jane and
Peter were Chen Dong?s landlord and landlady when
he was in the
States. They had become good
friends by the end of his one-year stay. They kept
in touch with each other after Chen Dong
returned to China. Jane and Peter
decided to
visit China soon after Chen Dong left the States.
They made a special stop in Guangzhou where
Chen Dong lives. Chen Dong
had promised to
show them around the city and let them try some
authentic
Cantonese food. One thing，in
particular，he wanted them to try was noodles. He
knew several restaurants that served good
noodles and took the couple to one of
them for
lunch one day.
Noodles typically come in soup
in Cantonese cooking. Chen Donsgtarted
eating
the noodles with chopstick，swhile Jane and Peter
exchanged a look at the
noise that came with
his eating. After a little hesitatio，n they asked
for forks. A
waitress told them that they did
not have fork，s and Chen Dong explained that
noodle restaurants do not usually keep forks
because no one would think of using
forks for
noodles.
In the next half an hour，Jane and
Peter had a hard time trying to roll the
long
noodles onto their chopsticks. Chen Dong
s，aid“that?s not the way we eat
noodles. You
put the noodles directly t ooyu r mouth with your
chopsticks. ”
“But that?s not the way we eat
nood，l e”s Jane and Peter said, frowning.
Case
8 Dinner in a Chinese Home
Besides taking
Peter and Jane to restaurants, Dong Chen also
invited them
to his home for dinner once. Dong
Chen ,s mother is a nice wife, and made eight
courses for four of them.
“I'm sorry
there isn?t much for dinner, she said.
“God
this is much more than enough food,
”
”
Jane said. Peter was too
overwhelmed to even
respond to Dong Chen, mother
Dong Chen was a
ltitle embarrassed. “This is whuast uwaely say to
guest，s
even though there?s plenty of foodhe
exp”lained．
What bewildered Jane and Peter
most was that thougDhong Chen?s mother
kept
saying that the food was not goo，dshe constantly
served helpings to Jane
and Peter．Peter did
not like two of the courses very muc，hand felt bad
that his
plate was full with whatever he would
not be able to eat. At seeing Dong Chen's
mother?s next move to serve him foo，dh e said
in a begging voic，e“Please don?t
give me any
more food．Let me do it myself．
Case 9A Not-
sociable Drink
Martin was sent by an American
company to work in a special economic
development zone in China for a year. He
became very friendly with a few
Chinese
colleagues. Soon, he started to go out with them.
He noticed that Chinese
like to have something
, such as peanuts, when they have beer, instead of
just
drinking beer without anything to eat as
many North Americans do.
One day he was
invited to a dinner party to celebrate a
colleague?s birthday.
They ordered alcoholic
beverages and toasted the guest of honor
frequently.
Soon Martin realized that the plan
was to get their friend drunk. Each colleague
would offer a toast, concluding with a cheery
“ gan bei! ” and tried to get Martin
to join
in, even though he was unwilling to do it. Martin
didn?t think it a good
idea, and tried to talk
them out of the game. However, he was accused of
not
being a good friend for not co-
operating.
Martin remained an outsider
during the rest of the dinner. He was getting
increasingly worried as he watched the poor
guest become increasingly
inebriated.
Case
10 A Misunderstanding at a Dinner Table
Roger
was a student majoring in East Asia Studies in an
American
university. He started an e-mail
correspondence with Zhang Li, a sociology
major in China, who was introduced to him
through a mutual friend.
Upon graduation,
Roger got a big gift from his grandfather. Grandpa
would
pay for a round-trip ticket to China. He
told Zhang Li the good news, and the
two
decided to meet.
Zhang Li decided to give
Roger a very special welcome: she and the three
women students in her dormitory would cook him
an authentic Chinese meal, as
Roger had told
her that he loved Chinese food.
However, when
Roger was presented the dinner, he was almost
terrified by some
of the food: pork stomach
soup, pig liver with ginger and spring onion,
chicken
with mushrooms in which the chicken
had been cut to pieces with bones attached
to
the meal.
Fortunately , there were courses
like tofu, stirred fried beef, steamed fish and
vegetables that Roger loved. He tried to stick
to them but Zhang Li kept putting
food he did
not like on his plate. When she asked how he liked
the liver, Roger
said, “ It?s very unusual ⋯
and interesting. “ This seemed to make Zhang Li
happy. And she gave him more liver. Roger
tried to stop her, but she would not
be
stopped. Roger was so frustrated that he told her
that he did not really like it
that much. “
But you said it was unusual and interesting!
”Zhang Li said. “ We
they both mean
something less than positive,
hurt their
feelings.
Zhang Li and her friends became
concerned at this.
” Roger said carefully,
trying not to
”“ So you don?t like the
food?” I?m not used to eating liver, that?s
all. But I do like the chicken, the beef,
the
tofu, and the vegetables. I have had more than
enough to eat. I never make
this much food at
home,
appreciated their effort.
” Roger
was eager to let them know how much he
“Trust
me, I?m enjoying the food. I know what I like.
Having said that, he found a piece of chicken
that was less bony, held it in his
hand to eat
it, and then licked his fingers. Zhang Li and her
friends looked at
each other in shock.
It
was not a perfect first meeting for either Zhang
Li or Roger.
Case 11 Over-dressed Tourists
As a van stopped in front of Niagara Falls, a
group of Chinese officials
streamed out. They
were dressed in suits and ties, wearing leather
shoes. Many
of the men also had left the
manufacture?s tag on the sleeve of their suit
jacket.
As they wandered around Niagara Falls,
some of them started to smoke. Their
attire
drew the stares of North American tourists, some
of whom quietly laughed
with their friends and
pointed at the Chinese visitors. Others frowned at
seeing
the smoking and shook their heads in
disapproval.
Case 12 Tie Culture
Jane was
a tourist and spent some time staying with a
Chinese friend at her
home. They watched a
children?s porgram while having breakfast one
morning.
A young man, the host of the program,
gave instructions of a game to a few
children,
and then joined them running in a
circle.
“My, he?s wearing a tie and
running crazy with the children!
exclaimed.
The Chinese friend shrugged, ”Is this very
unusual? ”
” Jane
Case 13 An American in
China
Professor Smith and his assista，nt Chen
Ming，were doing fieldwork in a
small city in
China. It was hot and humid, and both were
casually dressed. One
evening as they were
leaving for dinne，r a local administrator told
them that the
mayor of the city, who was
interested in the type of research they were
doing,
would like to say hello to Professor
Smith. As luck would have，itthe Mayor was
dining in the same restaurant as Smith and
Chen Ming.
Professor Smith said he had to go
back to his room to change.
“You look fin，e
Come o n，the mayor is waiting，”the administrator
said.
“No, I can?t meet the mayor in my shorts
Case 14 The Generosity of a Chinese Student
Matt was invited to a Chinese university to
give a few lectures. During his
short stay
there, a graduate student volunteered to show him
around the city.
Matt accepted the offer
gratefully. It was summer and soon both Matt and
the
graduate student began to get quite hot.
While Matt took some pictures, the
graduate
student went to buy some drinks.
“Thank you.
How much do I owe you? ” Matt asked.
“Nothing.
” The student smiled.
“ Are you sure? ”
“Yes.”
At lunchtime, Matt suggested they
have a quick meal. They stopped by a
McDonald.
Again, the graduate student tried to pay for
Matt.
”
“No, this is my treat.
You?re a student, I?m a professor. You?ve given me
the
time to show me around. You already paid
for my drink. Ican?t let you pay for
my lunch
again. ”
Case 15 A Gift from a Chinese Student
Xie Dong did his graduate study in an American
university. He came back
to China for summer
vacation. When he went back to his program, he
paid his
supervisor a visit and presented him
a gift.
The professor opened the gift. It was
a ginseng with its many tiny roots
spreading
out in a very artistic pattern. It clearly was an
expensive gift.
The professor?s eyes shone at
the ginseng, but he then began to feel uneasy.
“Xie Dong, I appreciate your kindness, but I
can?t take this as a gift.
“ Why? Don?t you
like it? ” It was Xie Dong?s turn to be uneasy
now.
“ Oh, sure, I love it. But I can?t accept
it. ”
“Why?”
“ Because I didn?t do
anything to deserve such a gift. ”
Case 16
Telephone Courtesy
Kathy and David, a couple
from the US, signed a one-year contract to work
in China. Both were extroverted and soon made
some Chinese friends.
Before long, people
started calling them at home. David was sometimes
away
on business trips for a few days, and if
someone looked for him, Kathy often
would find
the conversation awkward.
“ Where did he go? ”
The caller typically would ask.
“Can I pass on
any message? ” Kathy asked politely, trying to
avoid the
question.
“Is he out of town?
c”aTllehrewas usually very persistent.
”
“Yes, can I help you in any way?
feeling uncomfortable.
Case 17 “Not So
Close, Please ”
” Kathy tried to be polite,
but she could not help
He Jia had lived in the
United States for 7 years before she came back to
work in China. She found that she had become
accustomed to social habits in
North America
and that some Chinese behaviours now caused her
some
discomfort. For example, one day, back in
China, she was in a queue to use an
ATM. She
had noticed that people were standing very close
to each other. In fact,
the person behind her
could, if she or he wanted, to see her enter the
PIN of her
ATM card. He Jia wanted to make
people aware of the discomfort of the user by
keeping her distance from the person in front
of her. However, the people behind
her pushed
her to move forward.
Case 18 The Privacy of
the Page
Simon and Cheng Feng often studied
together to prepare for exams. One
day, in the
middle of a study session, Simon said he wanted to
get a coffee. He
asked Cheng Feng ifhe wanted
any, but he said, “No”. When he came back, he
found Cheng Feng reading his notes. He was
upset and, although he didn?t say
anything at
the time, he never studied with Cheng Feng again.
Cheng Feng
noticed the change and wondered
what had happened.
Case19 The Privacy of
Photographs
Rose invited Lili to her home one
day. While they were having coffee, Rose
showed Lili a few pictures of her boyfriend in
a photo album. Lili casually
turned to other
pages after that.
Rose stopped her, “I?d
rather you not look at other pictures.
“I?m
sorry. ”
”
Lili was embarrassed, and
apologized,
Case 20 The Privacy of
Price
After living in the States for some
time, Ping Li observed that Americans
like to
comment on each other?s looks and clothes. So nw
hsehe saw a fellow
graduate student wearing a
nice dress at a party, she complimented her by
saying. “This is a very beautiful dress.
before Christmas ,
asked.
“Well I
don?t quite remember, ” the student seemed
unprepared for the
” “Oh thank you , I bought
it last year
“How much was it? ” Ping Li ” the
student very pleased.
question, and answered a
little hesitatingly.
Case 21 The Privacy of
the Person
Zou Qing and Nancy became friends
after they met in a course they both
took．Nancy had had gray hair much earlier than
people of the same ag，eand
had been dyeing her
hair for several years.
While they were having
a break one day in between two classes, and Zou
Qing noticed that Nancy had some invisible
gray hair on her. She told her so, but
Nancy
changed the topic right away.
When everyone
else lef，tNancy said to Zou Qing，“Please don?t
mention my gray
hair while there were men
around.
Case 22 Unacceptable Curiosity
Mr
and Mrs Peterson came to China with a tour group.
One evening, they
decided to take a walk
outside their hotel. They soon noticed that quite
a few
people stared at them. One man even
quickly walked past them and then turned
back
to look at them several times. Both Mr and Mrs
Peterson felt
”
uncomfortable about
the staring and went back to the hotel sooner than
they had
planned.
Case 23 Confusion in
Communicating Love
Le, a Chinese woman, and
Bill, an American man, were very much in love.
Their
relationship started with their shared
interest in photography. As time went on,
however, Le became dependent on Bill whenever
she wanted to take a picture,
because she felt
that Bill was a much better photographer than she
was.
Whenever she noticed a scene that would
make a good image, she would ask Bill
to take
the picture for her.
Bill was not very pleased
but did not say anything for a while. However, Le
soon
got to a point where she began to ask
Bill to load and unload the film. Bill
decided
that it was too much for him to bear. He exploded,
“What?s the matter
with you? Don?t you know
how to load and unload a film? Can?t you take a
picture any more? ”
Le was so shocked that
she burst into tears.
you do it better than
me. What?s wrong with that?
Case24 Unwanted
Attention
Teresa is a Chinese American
teaching English temporarily at a Chinese
university. She is very easy going, and soon
the students got to know her well
enough to
invite her out regularly.
Crossing the very
busy and wide streets in the city was a scary
experience
for Teresa, and she complained of
it repeatedly. As a result, the female students
began to try to help her by taking her hand or
grasping her arm while the male
students
seemed to be shy about protecting her.
Teresa
was uncomfortable with her female students
touching her, and told
the women they did not
need to do it. Her female students thought she was
being
“I ask you to do things only because
”
polite and continued to take care
of her the same way. Teresa became so
uncomfortable that she tried to move away from
her female students whenever
they had to cross
the road.
Case 25 Holding Hands
Chris was
a visiting professor in China. On one day, one of
his students, Sun
Hui, showed him around the
city. Sun Hui soon noticed that Chris was
interested
in taking pictures of men that were
walking arm-in-arm or touching each other
when
they talked.
“ I don?t see anything special
about those men,
“ Well, we don?t see much of
that in men in the States,
gay, aren?t they? ”
” Sun Hui said curiously.
” Chris said, “
They
Case 26 Friendship Misunderstood
Yan
Hong was a Chinese painter who immigrated to the
United States. She
met Jenny, an American
physician in a club one day. They soon became
friends,
and sometimes went out for coffee and
lunch together.
One day, Jenny gave Yan Hong a
very beautiful vase. Yan Hong loved the
vase
very much, and felt she should give Jenny
something in return. So she gave
Jenny a
painting she brought from China. Jenny was very
pleased.
A few days later, Jenny invited Yan
Hong to her home for the first time.
They made
dinner together and enjoyed the meal a lot. Then
they sat down to
watch TV. When Jenny
tentatively held Yan Hong?s hand, Yan Hong was not
aware of anything unusual. However, when Jenny
sat closer to her and kissed
her, Yan Hong was
terrified. She pushed Jenny away and cried,
lesbian! ”
“ I?m not a
Jenny was
in shock, and asked accusingly, “ Then why didn?t
you tell me
earlier? ”
Case 27 Learning
about Flirting
Chen Qing was a visiting
scholar in an American university. He had made
some friends with professors and students
there. One day he went to a party
where the
atmosphere became less and less inhibited. Chen
Qing noticed that
men and women touched each
other a lot more than he was used to. At the end
of
the party, most people hugged each other
good-bye. One woman came to hug
Chen Qing, but
he stiffened as she attempted to give him a hug.
He had never
hugged any women except his wife
in his life. Other women noticed this, and no
one else tried to hug him.
However, Chen
Qing felt left out when people hugged each other
but not
him. He found himself in a very
awkward situation: he didn?t want to be hugged,
neither did he want to be left out. He did not
know what he wanted or how to
resolve his
conflicting emotions.
Case28 Lost in Love
Li Ying fell in love with an American man in
her second year in the United
States. They
spent a lot of time together. After they had been
to all the places of
interest in the city,
they had to decide where to go or what to do for
the next date.
John typically would ask Li
Ying, “ What do you want to do today? ” , or
“
Where shall we go? ” Li Ying would sometimes tell
what she wanted, but more
often than not, she
would say “It?s up to you ”, or “ Whatever you
want to do
“ Wherever you want to go. ”
”
John frowned at such responses several
times until one day when Li Ying said
“ up to
you ” again.
loud.
Li Ying was shocked at
his reaction.
want to do. ”
“ No, it isn?t
clear at all. I want to know what you want to do!
almost angry.
do, too? ”
” John was
“ Isn?t it clear to you? I?ll do what you
“For God?s sake, tell me what you want to do!
” He cried ou
“ Don?t you realize that
sometimes I want to do what you want to
Case
29 Lovers Become Strangers
Xiao Xin and Peter
are newly-weds. Though they spent a lot of time
with
each other before getting married, they
never really lived together. Not
surprisingly,
their marriage was followed by a series of minor
problems while
they tried to adjust to each
other?s ways of life. One difficult issue came up
about
two months after their new life, when
Peter came home from work looking
unhappy.
“ What happened?” Xiao Xin asked.
“Nothing
much, I?m just very tired,
“I can tell that
it?s more than that.
” Peter said.
”
Peter gave Xiao Xin a quiet look, went into
the bedroom, and threw himself
to bed.
Xiao Xin followed him in.
“No, I don?t. ”
” Xiao Xin suggested.
“Don?t you want to
talk about it? ”
“Perhaps I can help?
“
Xiao Xin, sometimes you just have to give me some
space. All I need now is
some privacy! ” Peter
yelled.
Xiao Xin was in shock. “Don?t
you trust me? ”
“Geez, it?s not a matter of
trust! Can?t you accept the fact that talking to
you
isn?t the solution to every one of my
problems?
and impatient.
Xiao Xin was in
tears. Her husband seemed to have become a
stranger to her.
” Peter was becoming
frustrated
Case 30 A Gift of Self
Zhang Ge
and Simon were head over heels in love with each
other. They
decided to go away to spend a
major holiday somewhere. It was winter time, so
they flew south in search of sunshine and warm
water.
However, Simon developed diarrhea soon
after they settled in a hotel. He felt
weak
and had to lie down for a rest. Zhang Ge was
worried and stayed him in
the room. Outside
the window, the sun was shining, and they could
hear the surf.
The sun and beach is what they
had dreamed about for months during the
winter
back home.
“Go and have some fun, ” Simon said
to Zhang Ge.
“ How can I go and have fun while
you?re sick in bed? ”
“Why not, it?s not your
fault that I?m sick. Besides, there?s nothing you
can do
here. ”
“Nonsense! I can keep your
company, and you?ll feel better with me around
you.”
“Are you sure you want to do this
instead of going out?
“Yes, I?m sure. I won?t
go without you.
“Oh, you?re so special. I love
you so much!
kissed her.
”
” Simon drew
Zhang Ge near and
”
Case 31 A Close
Girlfriend
Liu Hong and Wu Xin have been good
friends since they were young girls.
Both
eventually had the opportunity to study in the
United States, although they
ended up in two
different cities. After their first year of hard
work, they decided
to do some traveling
together. Liu Hong went to stay with Wu Xin for
two days
before they set off. Then they
visited three cities over the next 10 days.
Liu Hong came back from the trip and told her
American friends about the
trip. She casually
mentioned that they had to share one bed in one
particular
motel.
“ Oh, did you? ” , said
one of the friends in a tone that made Liu Hong
feel
uncomfortable.
Case 32 Interpreting a
Smile
. Peter is the general manager of an
American company in China. Recently,
Chen Jun,
one of the Chinese managers made a mistake at work
that caused
some difficulties that required a
lot of effort to fix. Chen Jun was very upset
about what had happened, and came to Peter?s
office to make a formal apology.
Chen Jun went
into Peter?s office after being told to, smiling
before he spoke.
“ Peter, I?ve been feeling
very upset about the trouble I?ve caused for the
company. I?m here to apologize for the
mistake. I?m terribly sorry about it and I
want you to know that it will never happen
again. ” Chen Jun said, looking at
Peter with
the smile he had been wearing since he walked into
the office.
Peter found it hard to accept the
apology. He looked at Chen Jun, and asked,
“
are you sure? ”
“ Yes, I?m very sorry and I
promise this won?t happen again,
with a smile
even broader than before.
” Chen Jun said,
“I?m sorry I just can?t take your
apology. You don?t look sorry at all!
angrily.
Chen Jun?s face turned very red. He did not in
the least expect Peter to take
it negatively.
He was desperate to make himself understood.
managed to smile again,
about it. ”
Peter was almost furious by now,
smile? ”
Case33 Interpreting a Laugh
Huihua, a
Chinese student, and Mary , an American student
studying
Chinese in China, were on their way
to a bookstore. As they got to the bookstore,
they saw a young man walking down a flight of
stairs. In his hurry, he missed the
last two
steps, and fell on the ground. He struggled to get
back to his feet while
people around him
laughed. Fortunately, he seemed to be O.K.
Mary was worried. She found Huihua smiling a
little and was not
comfortable about it. Tell
me, Huihua, how could people laugh when someone
fell like that? Do they care at all? Shouldn?t
they go up and ask the young man
whether he
was hurt? ”
Huihua said, “ they knew he wasn?t
hurt too much. ”
“ if you?re that sorry, how
can you still
“ Peter,
” Peter s
” he
“ trust me, no one can feel any more sorry
than I do
“ But I still don?t understand. A
fall is a fall. In my culture, people woudldo
anything but laugh! ”
Case 34 Different
Lunch Boxes
Peter was one of the American
technicians who came to China to help set up
a
coffee plant. He was in China for six month．s
Before leaving for home，one of
his Chinese
colleagues took him out to dinner. Peter decided
to ask him a
question that had puzzled him for
as long as he worked in the pla．nt
Why
is it that the Chinese workers have stainless
boxes for their lun，ch
while us foreigners
have lunch put in the disposable plastic boxes?
The Chinese colleague smile，d “It?s because
the plastic boxes are more
convenien；t they
are disposabl．e With the stainless boxes, you have
to wash them
after every meal. ”
”
But
Peter was not convince．d “I don?t think s．o
Stainless boxes are much
better than plastic
boxe．s They look more professional, they are more
durable,
and they protect your lunch better.