在中國和歐洲生活十年，這位美國人學到了什麽

在中國和歐洲生活十年，這位美國人學到了什麽

Max Chernov 2024年9月26日  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIjjp1uPVSg

美國有移民，我們不是很好的人，美國人

真的很受庇護，有時他們會對你大喊大叫，你知道，說英語，融入社會，認識一下 Alden，一位在美國生活了 8 年的美國女演員，現在在法國生活了兩年，她告訴我美國文化與中國和歐洲文化有何不同，美國人對在中國生活感到震驚，作為美國人，在巴黎生活的最大優勢是什麽，我是 Max chernov，是外籍人士生活的內幕人士，所以 B 中國和美國之間的差異是什麽，你認為中國和美國最大的不同是生活方式或文化，我認為最大的不同之一，但它正在改變，中國人和他們的家人非常親密，所以家庭很大，所以他們會住在同一所房子裏，祖父母父母孩子，他們在附近工作，孩子們在附近上學，而美國人，至少是我這一代，當你上大學時，你會遠離家鄉，然後你建立自己的事業，你搬到其他地方，我們不斷地搬家，所以當我們有了孩子，我們沒有祖父母在附近照顧我們照顧孩子，所以沒有那種忠誠，我們愛我們的家人，但我覺得這與中國人不一樣，中國人首先是名聲，然後是公司，然後是鄰居。而美國人已經放棄了原生家庭，去公司，然後就像我們的鄰居和朋友一樣，這使得撫養孩子變得困難，這就是為什麽在美國很難找到托兒服務，我們沒有父母或親戚來照顧，父母雙方都在工作，在美國，如果父母雙方都不工作，幾乎不可能負擔得起房子和生活方式，這意味著孩子與家人在一起的時間越來越少，你知道他們在歐洲的家人，在這裏家政服務也不常見，是的，我在這裏沒有任何家政服務，是的，我很想念它，所以你會說中國更像是中國與歐洲在工作和商業方麵的喧囂文化，嗯，是的，我想說中國更像走自己的路，走自己的路，一邊走一邊創造它，就像過去的狂野西部，無論需要什麽，總有人會弄清楚，誰先來，誰就先來。而歐洲更像是我們一直這樣做，我們會一直這樣做，這是傳統，你知道，這就是讓它變得超級棒的原因，因為它已經做了幾百年，也許美國介於兩者之間，我不知道我喜歡忙碌，但我喜歡如何讓這個工作，因為這對我來說意味著如果你足夠快，足夠聰明，或者認識足夠多的人，你仍然可以完成它，而有時在這裏感覺有守門人，我的家人不是葡萄酒行業，對我來說，現在進入葡萄酒行業幾乎是不可能的，特別是在演藝界，你知道，如果你沒有上過學，或者你不認識某些導演，某個作品，或者什麽，有一個門，你會更難進入，是的，你知道嗎，就像我這次在歐洲注意到的那樣，作為一個永遠的外國人，新加坡，所以我就像一個白種人，長得像新加坡人，在亞洲，是的，在亞洲，不僅是新加坡，而且在泰國，我會自動被認為是我是外國人，所以他們永遠不會問我是不是外國人，所以我肯定不是泰國人，我肯定有泰國人，比如長得像白人的泰國人，但這很少見，所以他們開始用英語跟我說話，我認為我是外國人是好事也是壞事，所以這就像呃，這已經是預設好的，我們的關係，比如去星巴克，關係是預設好的，這裏就不同了，因為我看起來和歐洲人一樣，就像法國人一樣，所以他們開始用法語跟我說話，這就是我處於不同的位置，你看，是的，我完全是這樣的，我們實際上已經談過很多次了，這就是為什麽我認為我們在中國的轉變與這次轉變非常不同，就像你說的，當我們去中國時，我們顯然不是中國人，我喜歡把它比作當你遛狗的時候，你的狗看到了另一隻狗，就像哦，天哪，知道他們想互相交談，比如比較筆記之類的，所以每當我在中國走來走去，我都會看到另一個人看起來像我，我會說，哦，嘿，你找到培根了嗎，我該怎麽做，告訴我哪裏有最好的幹洗店，因為我們可以聊天，嗯，在這裏，因為我看起來應該明白我在做什麽，或者應該說法語，它可能不那麽受歡迎，它可能像為什麽，為什麽你不能弄清楚，你知道我在這裏感覺更笨，這很糟糕，但他們比以前友好多了，所以情況並沒有那麽糟糕，但我認為在中國有一個即時社區，因為它就像很明顯你需要幫助，我走到哪裏，我能做些什麽來幫助你，而在這裏就像自己弄清楚，呃，也許這就是為什麽我的孩子們的日子更難過，你認為你作為美國人改變了嗎，還是你對美國的看法改變了？在國外待了 10 年之後，今年在國外，我對美國的看法肯定發生了變化，嗯，我一直認為自己對事情很開放，但我不明白，嗯，人們從另一個國家來到美國會經曆的困難，你知道，努力學習語言，努力找工作，努力讓他們的孩子融入文化，結交朋友，做不同的事情，吃不同的食物，有時你隻想要過上正常的日子，而作為一個母親，這很難做到，所以我會被人注視，因為美國有移民，我們不是很好的人，美國人真的很受保護，有時他們會對你大喊大叫，你知道，說英語，同化，我無法想象工作有多難，努力讓你的孩子舒服，讓你的家庭活下去，所以我心裏肯定對那些試圖做出與我相反舉動的人有一種柔軟的感覺，而且整個事實聽起來很愚蠢，但當我剛搬到中國的時候，我覺得有些東西很簡陋，甚至落後，我覺得這麽說很糟糕，但這就是我的想法，美國人上廁所時在地板上挖個洞，看起來像什麽，你知道這太落後了，太老派了，現在我看著它，我覺得我們坐在什麽東西上，是的，這很方便，我同意，就像你的大腦如此堅持一件事是正確的，另一件事是錯誤的，然後你開始想，不，等等，實際上我們的
更惡心，你知道這是因為進屋要脫鞋嗎，就像法國以不撿狗屎而聞名，對吧，你會帶著它走進你的家，但實際上在中國，你脫掉鞋子，就是這樣的事情，我試著想想為什麽這些東西會演變成這些文化，比如這座建築，它比我的國家還要古老，你知道，是的，我知道這是美國人，我們不知道這裏發生的曆史，你可以走過在市中心你可以看到彈孔 美國人不明白在家門口打仗意味著什麽
知道嗎 所以這些就是我必須理解的事情 就像 哦，這有更深層次的含義，如果他們在這裏做的事情似乎與我們在美國做的事情不同，那可能是有原因的 是的，他們花了很長時間來開發它 他們這樣做可能是有原因的 所以請保持開放的心態 現在讓我說 美國人在開發新技術和嚐試新事物方麵非常出色，你知道 想出各種創造性和奇妙的想法 所以我認為可以說美國人更有能力並且更願意嚐試新事物 而也許在這裏它變得更加根深蒂固 而且我們一直都是這樣做的 我們不會以不同的方式去做 但兩者都有好處 是的 你去過中國 哪種生活方式與你產生共鳴？
8 年了，是的，你最初來自美國，對吧，你的生活方式和生活方式更接近你，更適合你，這很有趣，因為我在德克薩斯州、俄克拉荷馬州、加利福尼亞州和科羅拉多州長大，非常美國中部，到高中時，我已經感到不舒服，覺得我和那裏的任何人都合不來，所以我去了加利福尼亞的寄宿學校，尋找一些東西，顯然我開始學習日語，一有機會我就已經開始在香港和中國工作了，所以我總覺得那個地方有一些東西對我來說很有意義，但就像住在法國，我感覺很不適應，我知道有很多好吃的東西，但我不知道怎麽煮，我不知道怎麽找東西，我還沒有學會語言，我在這裏呆了兩年，我真的隻能說請和謝謝，你知道的，我學中文很快，所以我想知道我不知道過去的生活或什麽的，是的，但我確實很想念美國食物，我很想念美國人的開放，就像我們一樣美國人顯然有非常憤怒和暴力的人，但我們也有非常開放、善良和熱情的人，是的，法國人告訴我，哦，我知道你是美國人，因為你走在街上時臉上帶著微笑，這是美國人的特質，他們說，是的，你們總是那麽向前看，所以我不知道，我不確定哪一個對我來說最好，不，臉上的微笑絕對不是法國人特質，我認為他們為此感到自豪，是的，我也這麽認為，你需要有點脾氣暴躁，就像真正的法國人一樣，實際上我們已經討論過很多關於美國人的虛偽，微笑是一種防禦機製，就像我們隻是不要生我的氣，你知道我隻是你

在中國和歐洲生活十年，這位美國人學到了什麽

Max Chernov 2024年9月26日  

Meet Alden, an American actress who lived in China for 8 years and has now been in France for 2. She shares how American culture differs from Chinese and European ones, what shocks Americans about living in China, and the biggest advantages of being in Paris as an American. Enjoy! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIjjp1uPVSg

America has immigrants that come in and we're not the nicest people Americans
are really sheltered and sometimes they'll yell at you you know speak English assimilate meet Alden an American actress who lived in China for8 years and has now been in France for two she told me how American culture differs from Chinese and European ones what shocks Americans about living in China and the biggest advantages of being in
Paris as an American I'm Max chernov your Insider to expat life so B what's Differences between China and the US the biggest difference you think in Chinese like lifestyle or culture and American one of the biggest differences I felt but it is changing is the Chinese were very close to their families so big families and so they would have you know they'd all live in the same house you know grandparents parents kids and they worked nearby and the kids went to school nearby whereas Americans at least my generation when you go to college you go far away from home and then you kind of build up your career and you move someplace else we're constantly moving so that when we have kids we don't have the grandparents nearby to take care of the kids so there's not that loyalty we love our families but it's not the same as I feel Chinese do where fames first M then company and then your neighbors you know whereas Americans we've kind of dropped our original family we've gone to company and then it's like our neighbors and our friends it makes bringing up kids difficult and that's why you know Child Care is really hard to find in America we don't have the parents or relatives to take care and both parents are working it's nearly impossible to afford a house and a lifestyle in America without both parents working and that means kids are having less and less time with you know their family in Europe is also domestic help is not common here yeah that's true I don't have any house help here yeah I miss it so you would say China is more like a China vs. Europe hustle culture in terms of work and business um yeah I would say China is more make your own way make your own path create it as you go the old Wild West you know whatever is needed someone's going to figure it out whoever's first is going to you know um whereas Europe is more like this is how we've done it we'll always do it this way this is the tradition you know and that's what makes it super cuz it's been done for hundreds of years maybe America's somewhere in between that I don't know I like the hustle though I like the how can I make this work because that means to me that if you're quick enough smart enough or know
enough people you you can still get it done whereas sometimes here it feels like there are Gatekeepers my family is not in wine for me to get into wine now is nearly impossible and especially in the acting Community you know if you didn't go to school for it or if you don't know the certain directors a certain production or whatever there's a gate it's going to be harder for you to get in yeah yeah you know what also like I noticed on this time in in Europe in Being a forever foreigner Singapore so I'm a like a white Caucasian looking dude right in Asia Singaporean yeah in Asia like not only Singapore but in let's say go to Thailand I'll be automatically perceived as a foreigner so they will never even like question that I'm I'm a foreigner so I'm I'm not Thai for sure I'm sure there are Thai like white looking Thai but it's like so rare So automatically they start speaking to me in English I perceived as a foreign is a good and a bad thing so it's like uh it's already like preset our relationships let's say go to Starbucks relationships are preset
right here is different cuz I kind I look the same as as Europeans as is French so they start speaking to me in French and that's I'm in different position say you see yeah I totally do we we've talked about this quite a lot actually that's why I think our transition in China um was so different than this transition like you said when we went to China we're obviously not Chinese and I like to liken it to when you're walking your dog and your dog sees another dog it's like oh my gosh know they want to talk to each other like compare notes and whatever else so anytime I was walking around in China and I saw another person who looked like me I'd be like oh hey have you found
bacon like how do I do this tell me where the you know the best dry cleaner is because we could talk and um here because I look like I should understand what I'm doing or should speak French it can be a little less welcoming it can be like why don't why can't you figure this out you know I feel Dumber here which terrible but again they've been a lot friendlier than it used to be and so it hasn't been so bad but I think there was an instant community in China because it was like like obviously you need help
everywhere I went like what can I do to help you whereas here was like figure it out yourself and uh maybe that's why my kids had a harder time do you think you changed as an American or your perspective to America changed through The view on the US after 10 years abroad this year abroad both for sure um I always considered myself pretty open to
things but I didn't understand um the difficulty people coming to America from
a different country would be going through you know trying to learn the language trying to get a job trying to have their kids get along in the culture
meet friends do things that are different eat different foods sometimes you just want a day that's like normal and that's hard to provide as a mom you know so I'm going to get te eyed because America has immigrants that come in and we're not the nicest people Americans are really sheltered and sometimes they'll yell at you you know speak English assimilate I can't imagine how hard it must be to work a job job trying to get your kids comfortable and keep your family going so I definitely have a soft spot in my heart for people trying to make the opposite move that I did and then also just the whole fact of like this is going to sound so stupid but when I first moved to China there were some things that I felt were rudimentary or less than or even backwards I think that's a terrible thing to say but that's was how I thought a hole in the floor to go to the restroom in for Americans looks like what is this you know this is so backwards this is so old school and now I look at it I'm like we sit on something yeah it's convenient I agree it's like your your brain is so set on one thing as being the right thing and one thing being the wrong thing and then you start thinking no wait actually ours
is grosser you know are this taking off your shoes for coming into the house yeah like France is famous for not picking up dog poop right yeah and you're going to walk into your house with it but actually it's in China where
you take off your shoes it's those kind of things where I'm like just try to think why these things have evolved these cultures like this building right there is older than my country you know yeah I know it's Americans we have no idea of the history that's happening here you can walk past down downtown you can see bullet holes Americans don't understand what it means to have a war on your front doorstep you
know so those are the kind kind of things that I just had to wrap my head around being like oo there's so much more depth and if they're doing something here that seems different to what we're doing in America there's probably a reason yeah they had a long
time to develop this there's probably a reason why they do it that way so keep your minds open now let me say Americans are amazing at developing new technology and trying new things and you know coming up with all sorts of creative and fantastic ideas so I think there is a a good part to say that Americans are more capable and willing to try something new whereas maybe here it gets a little more ingrained and that we've we've always done it this way we're not going to do it a different way but there's good things in both yeah you've been in China What life approach resonates with you?
for 8 years yes and you originally from the US right what way of life and like
the approach to life is more close like to you more suitable to you it's funny cuz I grew up in Texas and Oklahoma and California and Colorado and so very Middle America by the time I was in high school I already felt uncomfortable didn't feel like I got along with anyone there so I went to boarding school in California searching for something obviously I started studying Japanese and the soonest opportunity I could go I was already working with Hong Kong and China so I always felt like there was something of
that part of the world that made sense to me but like living here in France I feel very um a fish out of water I know there's so much great food but I don't know how to cook it I don't know how to find things I have not yet learned the language I've been here two years I can really only say please and thank you and you know un bagett see play but I learn Chinese really fast so I wonder I don't know past lives or something yeah but I
do miss American food I miss the openness that Americans have like we
have all kinds of people in America obviously we have very angry and violent people but we also have really open and kind and welcoming people yeah and people here in France tell me oh I knew you were an American because you walked down the street with a smile on your face that's an American thing they say yeah you guys are always so like forward so I don't know I'm not sure which one's best for me no this smile on the face is
definitely not a French thing and I think they're proud of it yeah I think so too you need to be a little bit grumpy like to be Pro like real FR and actually we've had a lot of discussions American fakeness about this is the smile a defense mechanism is it like we're just don't get mad at me you know I'm just you know maybe it's a a frightened thing that we do but when I work when I was in China anytime there was an accident or
something an emergency or something like that I definitely noticed that uh my
colleagues my friends the Americans sometimes the Brits would run towards the emergency trying to help out whereas other people were running away from it and I thought that's very strange we're very proactive I guess so I'm proud of
my culture in some ways but yeah some people say oh Americans like smile is
like a fake smile so they don't mean it when they say it's this the finny article I read about like how decision made in Silicon Valley in the startup industry so it's even was the the dictionary for like what if the investor
tell you oh it's great it's amazing like great job it doesn't mean that it's
great job it means you not failed yet right so it means yeah like you're doing
okay and maybe they will consider your project yeah and it's like there are a lot of like cultural I think especially
if you compare France to to the US it's like kind of different uh for sure I've
noticed that and also we have a saying kind of an understanding in America
where New York and LA are very different yeah a person in New York if you ask
them to go do something they'll say no don't feel like it person say oh that sounds awesome yeah and then they won't
show up yeah it's just two different ways of the same answer and it's like how do you like to receive that news and
I actually tend to be a person like I would rather you say yeah I'll be there and then not show up yeah but a lot of
my friends are like well then you just lied to me and I'm like well but to me it was like a softening like okay so I
think in a way I am very American and that I just expect you not to show up that's okay with me but I can understand
how that very um disconcerting it doesn't make sense my husband is an American who works in France and he's
had some issues in the work culture because if he's going to give a review to someone they sit down and he will
tell you you know at least two good things that you're doing you're showing up on time every day at work we really appreciate that you know you're very
communicative we understanding where where you're coming from so the French person is now like oh my God I'm getting
a promotion this is great you know and then he's like but we also need you know your time reports to be better and you
need to work on this or whatever and so it's like they didn't even hear those last two because they were so happy with
hearing something good so that miscommunication can happen too and my kids go to the American School here in
French school vs. American school
Paris at first I was like oh I'd rather them you know get in the culture go to the Parisian school first they didn't
speak French so that wasn't going to happen but secondly they said you know the teachers here are really harsh and I
said what does that mean and say they post the grades outside the door of every kid so you
know what your friend made on the test they will actually tell you you're being stupid you should have known this answer
my kids would not do well with that kind of feedback they just have never had that in their lives yeah were more
gentle in that way yeah so yeah we've definitely noticed some very different
cultural acceptances especially in business but also in like China and Japan I feel like it's very very
different too where the Chinese never would raise their hand for a problem you know if somebody said this is what we
want to do this is what our concept is how do we do it they almost always say yes they're going to find a way to do it
if they can't do it they're going to find a niece or a nephew who can they're going to find the parts whatever but nobody ever says hey um I think there
might be a problem here because that's like really frowned upon and the American is always like hand up always
going to talk through the meetings always has an idea or something to change or whatever else so I don't know which one's better there is a like some
Communication problems
studies about how the like the normal talk going in between like let's say two
Americans MH or like American and Canadian let's say they help people talk
so one person is talking like from here from here and then the person never stops so the second person start talking
at the end of the first person is like finishing so it's always overlapping
right but if you say Korean or Japanese you would never interrupt here you will
wait but then if you let say is like one Japanese in the room or like two Americans in the room Japanese will
never have a chance to speak exactly that's exactly right yeah that's so funny it's exactly right and I actually
heard that like if you are you know speaking in a group of people and then you ask the crowd does anybody have a
question sometimes cultures won't even they don't want to raise their hand they don't want to make you look bad so they'll wait for you to call on them
which is never going to Happ Americans never going to call on somebody who doesn't have her hand up you know so
strange we I'm glad though that these things are being talked about because it's so important if somebody goes quiet
in a conversation with me I get uncomfortable yeah I'm like oh what's wrong did I did you not understand me
are you not happy what's but really I need to shut up let them process and let
them say something there actually like another study that they read is the tolerance for to
silence um so Americans have very short like to so if someone is not responding
for one second it start feeling very uncomfortable uh I think the the longest
one if I'm not mistaken it's I think it's Koreans so the the pause normal
pause is like six six seconds so between the answer and and the question the
answer yeah it's basically six and it's normal so because they need to process and it even would be like perceived rude
if they start talking right away because they never they never thought properly about
that's funny yeah I would definitely be uncomfortable if somebody went quiet for 6 seconds looking around me like did I
miss something but it's like this way of like Californian way it's like Asian way
basically you never say in the face of someone like oh I will I I don't want to go there right yeah you you never say it
right never say that you always agree being like that's really great I yeah I'll totally be there yeah and then that
go what was your first impressions when you you arrived like two years ago we arrived right after the pandemic and we
First impressions of France
had been we had had our vaccinations but we had never had Co we got it on the way here on the airplane luy so
lucky so but we found that the medical system here was so much easier easier
than in America in okay because in America I mean first off your insurance is so expensive and then trying to find
you know a doctor that'll take you in and then you know trying to get the vaccination and whatever else the shots
or whatever you need and here it's kind of like at that point they were testing for Co outside intense like you didn't
even have to make an appointment you just kind of walked in or whatever the pharmacies were giving the shots you don't have to go to your doctor first
and whatever else so we found that first of all like super easy and super nice and fast I remember thinking oh the
parisians are not known for being nice or friendly but everyone here has been incredibly friendly yeah and very quick
to speak English actually I wish they were more not willing so that I could
learn my French better but I remember coming when I was 16 and thinking oh
they're so grumpy they don't like any of us they're so snobby but that's not the feeling I have all anym mm yeah that's
what I heard they they changing then they they're willing to speak more English now M and they're kind of more
open to maybe it's the the Olympic Games uh something to do with it or maybe just a like Global Trend I don't know like I
said right when we got here two years ago they were already very welcoming and
you know maybe the older older generation might be a little more stickler about manners and etiquette and
that sort of thing and actually I'm quite happy of the things they don't you don't see parisians eating on the Metro
you know there's no people walking around with coffee and whatever they're civilized they sit down and have their
coffee because you need to enjoy the moment that's right what a French thing it's a slower enjoy what's happening right now
instead of rush back to the office and you know hurry hurry and whatever else so I think maybe it's a bit of both
we're appreciating their lifestyle more and
they are more accepting of our mistakes yeah and the younger generation my
generation and younger for sure or more maybe they're traveling more maybe that that's happening too I don't know and in
Going back to the US
the yes you're from as San Francisco that way no actually we are from from Texas you said but if you go back where
would you go so my kids grew up in Los Angeles um one was born in Long Beach
one was born in Torrance so they have spent two years in the United States in Los Angeles area um grandparents in
Oklahoma and New Mexico but then they've spent the rest of their lives 12 years
outside of America yeah so anytime they go back to America that means it's either Christmas and they're getting
presents or their friends are out of school so they think of America as presence and no school so now going back
this is going to be tough because they're going to have to go to school and study and you know there's no
grandparents around and so I'm I'm a little they seem to be all excited and happy about it oh McDonald's and
whatever whatever but I think it'll be a hard transition last time we went back
it was during the election the 2016 election which was Donald Trump and Hillary Clint
yeah and the News was on all the time and because we understand English it was constant about gun violence and you know
the anger that was happening I think there was a school shooting right when we arrived I was driving at the time
here I don't have a car but in America I have a car driving and I have the news on and I didn't realize that my two
Littles in the back were hearing all of this and I'm just listening to the news NPR whatever it was and one night
they're going to bed and my older started crying he said Mom I'm afraid someone's going to come in and shoot me
I was like okay we can't listen to the news anymore that's yeah that's not going to happen but wow I was just going
to say they're more International than they are American now when somebody says where are you from they kind of have a hesitation like I don't know how is it
Life abroad for teenagers
for your kids because they're teenagers was it easy for them to start their like new life in France um let's see I think
my kids have had a harder time adjusting to Paris than they did in China but I
think that's because they're teenagers and I think the fashion has been difficult because they're teenage boys
you know they're used to sweatpants and baseball hats and that's not Paris Paris
we dress up Paris our clothes fit you know they shouldn't be dirty or holes or whatever else and so that's been tough
and then sports in America is so important especially when you're in high school your teams you if you're playing
baseball you're probably playing four or five times a week MH here it's once a week maybe I think those things made it
difficult for them to find their tribe find their own friends but once they did they can use the Metro by themselves my
14-year-old was on the metro into town and back at 10 p.m. and I'm not worried
about him he knows how to get around he you know has his metro card they meet
and have five guys hamburgers which is American but still um and I think that
really fantastic actually that they're so independent here they don't have to drive which scares me to death about
moving back to America yeah I don't feel like the gun violence is here so I've
been feel very confident that they're safer here I don't know if the drug problem is bad here or not but we don't
see it so that part's good too in a lot of ways I just feel safer for them here
I'm a little concerned going back if we're going to fit in culturally now yeah so do you feel safe here in Paris
Safety in France
you you feel pretty safe yeah yeah I do the only thing I've been frustrated by
is the pickpockets but even that you know that's everywhere that's China That's La that's everywhere I definitely
feel safer here one because we're not driving so we're in a Metro that's or
the train we ride bikes but the schools are very safe locked down out in the
countryside and like I said my kids are teenagers but the other funny thing is drinking is not like um not a taboo here
right right which would make you think that kids would drink more mhm but an actuality because it's like no big deal
they're not excited to go out and try it or sneak it or anything so it really hasn't been an issue yet I mean granted
they're 15 of 14 but that part of it kind of makes me feel safe too pickpockets I've seen on the Metros but
I can I can figure out who they are now you know they wear these big bags in front of them their hands are in their
um jackets they're not in their sleeves yeah and once you know what to look for
you're fine plus it's light out till 10 p.m. oh yeah not in the winter but in
Time in France
the summer it's really bright out all the time so uh for us it's confusing cuz you kind of lose track of time right
like you go out with friends and then oh it's 10 p.m. already I got to go home I got to go to bed Singapore is
always the same it's like 7:30 a.m. it's uh cuz you're close to the sunset and
sunrise same like 7 7:30 a.m. 7:30 p.m. it's it's 40 km from the equator right
yeah Los Angeles is that I mean it's always nice there you know same same
here when we first moved here we were in a rental apartment and we had just eaten
dinner we were watching TV or something and um the neighbor from downstairs came
up and was knocking on the door and was all angry and I was like couldn't s first this French and I was like okay
okay he's like you're too loud you're too loud and I looked I'm like it's 10:30 but it was still light out so yeah
we had to learn that the hard way yeah walking the streets of Paris is like I visually enjoyed so much I know it's oh
Buildings in France
my God it's so beautiful that's why people are in style here because you look you're trying to match the
buildings yeah yeah just the carvings above the window sills or just you know the the
signs from the Metro or done in a font that's gorgeous or the Iron Works around
the sidewalks it's just every detail is really fantastic and here's the funny
thing living here for 2 years I start getting a little bored of it now that's
going to come off awful but the buildings start looking a little bit alike M so gorgeous that they're all
like you take it for granted and then you go to like Brussels
or Prague or Budapest and it's historical too it's fantastically historical as well but just this a
little bit of difference in the architecture and you're like it's amazing you know like the bridges are
different the the railways are different and you just think that tiny little difference really does the just the
graffiti in Brussels alone I'm like this would never happen in Paris but I love that it does so yeah yeah and uh when
you realize how old is the city and the buildings we actually stayed in in Fountain Blue it's um close to Paris
that's like a little town for almost half a year and we lived in the like a
normal French building being like 100 year old and for France is like brand
new basically it's a new building and then think about China our apartment
when we got into it was 8 years old and the real estate agent said this is an older apartment eight and here this one
I think is 200 it's crazy or what uh we walked past
the um oldest restaurant the other day in paci I just thought to myself how did they stay open this whole entire time
it's insane but have you noticed there's no old cars yeah barely ever see an old
car much more new cars uh like this on this trip like last time it was more old
old ones yeah in America we you know we have this fascination with old cars and you know they have conventions and
whatever to show off their old Lincoln Continentals or whatever and here I never see him yeah and a lot of EVS now
yes yeah even buses it's incredible in Singapore we have like still diesel
buses like loud and noisy and yeah the recycling here is really good I think
they're doing a better job as far as protecting their environment but also they live densely you know and in
America we live in houses spread far apart we each have to drive drive drive everywhere we don't have a good Metro
System per City we don't have even railway lines that can get you from LA to New York it's cumbersome and to get
that kind of funding to upgrade all that for America is tough to get the votes through so oh yeah yeah what kind of
Being an actress in China and France
roles do you play kind of characters here in France I have done a lot of
theater this time so Oscar wild and um Neil Simon so in English which is great
so because of my gray hair I know normally play the older character right
now I'm I'm playing Lady brachnell and The Importance of Being Earnest which is a really funny play and so I'm an older
lady which I like but in China I was always portrayed as the evil American
you know yeah because the Americans were always brought in to to be overcome
right even if it was love interest then the other was going to take over that right so as my age group I was either
the CEO that was cheating or needed to be overthrown or what else the scientist
or the doctor that was like creating something evil or and I love being the villain but
sometimes I'm like just because I'm an American doesn't mean I'm a terrible person but my kids would always get hired for like dairy products or
environmentally friendly something or American Products you know so it was like kind of the crossover for that or
or technology that sort of thing um I don't want to be the villain anymore the reputation of France and
The best place for creative people
Paris is like a paradise for all the creative professions for sure is it the
case there are so many theaters here I don't think I could ever see them I mean hundreds of theaters hundreds of shows
that are going on constantly between Cabaret and music and live theater and I
mean circus and shinan and whatever there's so much going on on any given
night it's amazing and then let's see films are being shot here I
Emily and Paris TV's being shot here we have to me remember because brexit the
English speakers the English can't really come over here to work and vice versa so that has caused some issues so
there's a lot of um work to be done in London and England but I don't my Visa
won't allow me so I can't go there but also they can't come here so a lot of times I get hired for voiceover for a
lot of the English and then I mean art how many museums I go to a museum once a
week that's been my goal I go on a tour once a week so that means I'm hitting either a monument or a m Museum every
week that means I've seen 60 70 museums I still haven't seen them all I couldn't
there's no way possible it's just spectacular they really support and create and promote the Arts here so if
you're an artist or an actor you will get a salary if if you're at least in
school or you know doing I think it's one job a month or something like that so they really are allowing people to
not go hungry for their art and I think that's why it's the capital to me at
least of culture and music and theater and everything yeah yeah yeah there is
enough demand here yeah and the government itself says it's important and we should fund it and they do and
that's incredible can you make more money in China in this industry or in Paris I definitely worked more in China
yeah but I had more time to create a network and like I said build those reputations that were so important and
I've had to um set up my own business Auto entrepreneur so that I can pay my
taxes and so that been a bit of bureaucracy the European bureaucracy that can always be difficult and just as
I'm figuring it all out yeah so hopefully it'll get better in China it's like in in terms of
let's say how set set up the company is easier more straightforward or you don't need to have company in China you're
supposed to have a company supposed to have yeah you're supposed to pay your taxes yeah yes it's difficult to do um
because really there aren't many visas for entertainment uh so instead you're doing consulting or you're doing you
know um admin or that sort of thing marketing so yeah that makes it I think
that's the reason why the agents don't work with you specifically because it's probably not in their is it called hook what is it
called when they you know whatever they are paying their taxes for whatever that track of businesses it may not align
with yours so that's you get a lot of Hong bows red packets that's why I'm a little
bit afraid or a little bit nervous about going back to China at this point I don't know how foreigners are being
received now I think it's changed a lot after Co um and I think the relations
between America and China kind of soured when Trump was in I have heard there's been a lot of changes but I hope that
our countries get along again I you know the people always get along I think that's the one most important thing I've
learned living in other countries is just because the president is a certain way doesn't mean all the people are that
way and that's for every country I've been to not all the people of a country think the same way of course they don't
so it'll get back to it at some point I think Chinese and Americans are actually very similar in a lot of ways is it yeah
Similarities between Chinese and Americans
I do oh yeah what's the similarities you think they want the best for their families they're willing to work really
hard to make the step up for their family and the next step up and if there's a will there's a way I mean
Americans and Chinese will work their butts off and they will find a way to make it work there's they're not going to say no whereas I feel like in Europe
it's better to say no you know that's not in my uh title or
my job description and I don't want to get in trouble for it so I'm just going to say no so that's a way I think that
we can figure each other out yeah do you have any like important principle in
Life principles
life let's say in your that help you through your career something like really important my kids right now are
trying to decide what they want to do with their lives anytime somebody says you have to make money you have to make money I think oh don't give away your happiness for someone else to make money I don't get that so also I don't want to make a bunch of junk that just clutters up stuff I want to make
people happy I want to find a way that human beings our Spirits our hearts our
minds are enjoying the brief amount of time we have on this planet I want them
to interact with each other I hate that we're doing this all the time I want this to come back so to me acting and
telling sto stories and entertaining is bridging that I don't make a lot of money doing it but I love it and my job
the job part because we all have a job part that's not the fun part right my job part is writing my resume sending
out auditions you know self-taping learning scripts that sort of thing but
the brief amount of time that I get to do the entertaining of someone or telling a story that somebody's like oh
my God that's my life that's important so I hope my kids continue on in
something where they have to create or give spiritually and I'm not a religious
person I just mean this as in like lift somebody else up especially when you're feeling down cuz that's the best way to
get yourself back you know so I know we all we need lawyers we need Bankers I
get it I'm not saying that nobody should do that I'm just saying what you graduate college at what 22 23 and then you retire at 65 it's 40 Years of your life you better enjoy it you better do something that you're making the world a better place because it's not that much time yeah yeah what's the meaning of The meaning of life life for you oh God I'm still trying to figure that out just cuz I have gray hair doesn't mean that I know what the meaning of life is I'm starting to think you know I'm starting to think the saying on the airplane is the most important when you hit turbulence make sure your own mask is on first MH so that you can take care of others because if you're not taking care of yourself none of us is going to survive as a mom as a a woman I find myself always trying to take care of everybody else did you eat did you you know get your paper done did I need to drive you here did the dog get the walk I forget sometimes to take care of my own health my own happiness and then I get run down and I get resentful and angry and I can't get out of bed or depressed or whatever and now I can't take care of any of these people so more and more I'm starting to think that the key to life is to put your mask on first
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