Comments, Feedback, & Suggestions

This is in response to:
"Response from Nick McGuine: A British national with many years of EFL experience in China"

I'm an American, and I although I understand this (foreigner) viewpoint very well, I think it's important to keep a few things in mind. For one thing, I've lived in the UK for quite some time, and let's be honest, the truth of the matter is that the British people as a whole are not so far behind Americans when it comes to being rather ignorant.

In fact, sometimes I'm convinced that some British think of themselves as being smarter than us only because they can repeat whatever it is they've heard on BBC news this morning. I don't say that to be rude, I'm just pointing out what I believe to be a fundamental difference between our cultures. Most Americans understand very well that our government is broken, the media is a false reality, and most of what's shown on TV is nonsense.

The problem is that many of us don't think we can do anything about it, so we focus on things we can control, our day-to-day lives. We have a 'life is short, so live it' attitude. Those certain upper-middle class Americans that choose to defend the government and dumbed-down media, those are not the majority of Americans. These Americans you refer to are what we call 'yuppies' (the Starbucks drinkers) and they hardly represent what it means to be an American. Life 'works' pretty well for them, so they enjoy being ignorant and defending the system. They're not the majority. Just look at where the Starbucks are located (a silly example, I know) but I can assure you they only exist in a very small percentage of our neighborhoods. For example, when you come to visit New York City, do you visit the Bronx or Queens or do you stay in Manhattan? Although you might think you've run into some 'regular' Americans in China, I can assure you those are all yuppies. They might be of the hipster variety, but they're still yuppies. It's only fair that you start referring to these people for what they are, 'yuppies', not Americans.

* Great website by the way. The best information I've found yet on the internet to research teaching in China.

You had me up until the point you mentioned that American teachers in China are Yuppies. If anything, they are anti-Yuppies. Maybe the expat CEOs of international companies with branches in Shanghai and Beijing earning their American salaries plus "combat pay" can be thought of as Yuppies but anyone working in China as an English teacher for $730 a month who walks, rides his bike, or takes a bus to work is no Yuppie even if he does drink Starbucks coffee in China.

Mark