Ultimate Frisbee and the Expat Bubble
Marcus and Christina are both really into ultimate frisbee (a mixture of football and soccer that's played with a frisbee), so when Marcus discovered an ultimate club here in Shanghai they decided to go to a scheduled "pick up" game. I've played a couple of times and really enjoy it, so I decided to tag along since we didn't really have anything planned for the day. We took the subway out to Pudong, and then caught a taxi to the general area of the field. After a few minutes' wandering we found the Shanghai Rugby and Football Club, where the game was supposed to happen. We were still a little early, so we explored the area a little. Across the street from the Rugby club there were soccer fields with kids' matches in progress. The teams were almost entirely made up of non-Chinese; this was our first inkling that we were in some kind of foreign bubble in Shanghai. We stopped at Starbucks (I would say this was another indication of the foreign bubble phenomenon, but they really are everywhere) to use the bathroom then headed back to the Rugby club.
There were still rugby games going on both of the fields at the club, and we were told that the ultimate would start late, so we just tossed the frisbee around on the sidelines. A group of expats (ex-patriots, or foreigners) started to form on the other side of one of the fields, and we watched in amusement/bemusement as they began a structured warm up. OK, this wasn't Sewanee ultimate, it looked like these guys were going to play with rules.
The group was mostly made up of Americans--businessmen and a couple of teachers. The age range was pretty wide, but they all seemed to be involved in the party scene here in Shanghai. During the organized stretching session (led by Jodi, a PE teacher during the week) we listened as they recounted stories from the night before. Or morning, I should say; the most interesting activities took place well after 2 a.m. They expats took their frisbee-playing very seriously. After the organized stretching, we proceeded to run sprints, do lunges down the field, then push-ups, sit-ups, frisbee-handling drills, and more sprints and stretching, all interspersed with mini pep-talks. I enjoyed the workout, but found the whole thing a little bizarre. This was definitely not a pick-up game as I know the term.
To be blunt, we found the expats obnoxious. They talked like China and the Chinese existed for their amusement. I can understand why the expat bubbles exist, but the attitude of these particular expats was seriously irritating. I understand a little better the common stereotype of Westerners here.
(Incidentally, Shanghai today is very open to Western culture. Dr. Wilson was explaining that during the early 1990s there was a big debate about preserving China's culture, and the outcome, especially in Shanghai, was wang qian zou: literally "go forward"--go to the future, but also go to the money, instead of preserving the past.)
There were still rugby games going on both of the fields at the club, and we were told that the ultimate would start late, so we just tossed the frisbee around on the sidelines. A group of expats (ex-patriots, or foreigners) started to form on the other side of one of the fields, and we watched in amusement/bemusement as they began a structured warm up. OK, this wasn't Sewanee ultimate, it looked like these guys were going to play with rules.
The group was mostly made up of Americans--businessmen and a couple of teachers. The age range was pretty wide, but they all seemed to be involved in the party scene here in Shanghai. During the organized stretching session (led by Jodi, a PE teacher during the week) we listened as they recounted stories from the night before. Or morning, I should say; the most interesting activities took place well after 2 a.m. They expats took their frisbee-playing very seriously. After the organized stretching, we proceeded to run sprints, do lunges down the field, then push-ups, sit-ups, frisbee-handling drills, and more sprints and stretching, all interspersed with mini pep-talks. I enjoyed the workout, but found the whole thing a little bizarre. This was definitely not a pick-up game as I know the term.
To be blunt, we found the expats obnoxious. They talked like China and the Chinese existed for their amusement. I can understand why the expat bubbles exist, but the attitude of these particular expats was seriously irritating. I understand a little better the common stereotype of Westerners here.
(Incidentally, Shanghai today is very open to Western culture. Dr. Wilson was explaining that during the early 1990s there was a big debate about preserving China's culture, and the outcome, especially in Shanghai, was wang qian zou: literally "go forward"--go to the future, but also go to the money, instead of preserving the past.)
posted by Mike and Jean Anne at 6:14 PM
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