I think you know,Dan, I'm not staring like some psycho and positioning myself like this is just a game I play for my wife and friends. They get a laugh out of the contortions you all make to avoid eye contact and even they find it all incredibly rude. Just talking about little common courtesy, that's all.
now,now-Ted, Don't take it too personally
This kind of goes along with gaoxings' whining and complaints and is one of my sore spots with the expat/lao wai community in Kunming... Why is it that when a foreigner meets another foreigner on the street here in Kunming, they will do anything to not make eye contact or acknowledge the others' presence? It seems that almost all of you will go out of your way to ignore a fellow traveler. I have lived in Kunming for 3 years. Our section of Kunming (probably) has one foreigner living in it...me. I can go weeks without seeing another lao wai. When I see a fellow lao wai, I usually smile, perhaps try to make eye contact and nod my head in acknowledgement and greeting. It is such a rare occasion to see another person like myself that it is hard not to display some sort of reaction. This ignorant reaction is far more common from the expats. The tourists and backpackers seem overall to be a friendlier bunch altogether. The reason I attribute this to you expats is that I have seen most of you on more than one occasion. My wife (Chinese) and I have sat downtown and watched you as you walk by each other and us with your noses up in the air as if the clouds are much more interesting than your surroundings and neighbors. I have even gotten up and stood directly in front of you so that it would be impossible not to see me but lo and behold, you must have radar as you can pass within fingertip reach never looking down. This little trick brings us much amusement, but is very hard to explain to her and our friends. So folks, what's up with that?
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