The 20th of May is a very special day for Chinese because they celebrate love on this day! In China, today is like another Valentine's Day.
520表白日又來啦！
不知道大家晚上有沒有浪漫的安排
在這個廣撒狗糧的日子裡
先來看看別人家的愛情~
How did May 20th become the modern Chinese Valentine's Day?It's all about pronunciations. Chinese love homophonic words and numbers with hidden meanings. When you write May 20th in numbers, it’s 5.20. When you pronounce the numbers 5. 2. 0 in Chinese - wǔ èr líng, they sound very close to the words 我愛你 wǒ ài nǐ. That’s how May 20th become the modern Chinese Valentine’s Day.
During this lovely day, couples go on a date or spend time together. And for those who are single, well, it’s a perfect time for them to be brave and show their love to their crush! Nobody can resist a declaration of love on this special day!
Before on Valentine’s Day(Feb 14th), Timothy Driesen from Belgium shared a lovely story with his Chinese girlfriend, we believe today is just the right moment to publish this story! Let’s check out!
來自比利時的朱善其之前在2月14情人節給我們投稿了他和中國女友的戀愛日常，一起來看看老外的「吐槽」——有個中國女友是種什麼感受。
Author/作者: Timothy Driesen
I came to China to learn Chinese in 2011, now I live in Xi』an and work in an international consulting company. I was deeply impressed by the long history, favorable entrepreneurial environment and delicious food of Xi』an. It has become my second home.
2011年我因學習漢語與中國結緣，目前常住西安，在西安就職於一家外資諮詢服務公司。這裡濃厚的歷史氣息、優良的創業環境與美味的飯菜給我留下了深刻的印象，這裡就是我的第二個故鄉。
Love is… giving your boyfriend a scallion
for Valentine's Day
愛情是…情人節給男朋友送一根蔥
After a long and rather frustrating day at work, I came home to find my girlfriend of 7 years in the kitchen, busy preparing dinner. When I went into the kitchen to say hello, she suddenly turned around, and presented me with half a scallion. 『Happy Valentine’s Day!』, she said sarcastically. A bit taken aback by her sudden exclamation, I awkwardly accepted the scallion. 『I didn’t get you anything…』, I said apologetically. Her face showed nothing of her conflicting emotions.
經過一天漫長又沮喪的工作後，回到家，我看見交往了7年的女朋友正在做晚餐。我走進廚房跟她打招呼時，她突然轉過身來，給了我半個大蔥，半開玩笑地說：「情人節快樂！」 我當時一愣，尷尬地接過來了大蔥，並帶著歉意地說：「我沒給你買什麼東西.」當時，她的臉上沒有什麼矛盾的表情。
Over dinner it all became clear to me. Her colleagues at work had been curious about how she would spend her Valentine’s Day evening together with her foreign boyfriend. Because, you know, all foreigners celebrate Valentine’s Day. It is after all a Western holiday. A day during which couples express their love and affection for each other with grand romantic gestures and lavish gifts. Or so they thought, including my girlfriend (for the first time in seven years, or, at least, that’s what I would like to believe, haha). We happened to visit one of her colleagues the next day. When my girlfriend told them the anecdote of the scallion, I couldn’t help laughing upon seeing the shock on their faces.
晚飯後我才明白過來，原來是她的同事很好奇她會怎樣和外國男友過情人節。情人節是一個西方節日，大家會認為所有外國人都會過這個節，並且在這一天，情侶們應該浪漫的約會，買昂貴的禮物來表達對彼此的愛。大概他們，還有我女朋友都覺得應該那樣過（這是7年來她第一次向我表達這樣的期望，反正我是這麼覺得的）。第二天我們去拜訪她的一個同事，當她告訴她們大蔥這件趣事時，看到她們吃驚的表情，我不禁大笑起來。
These kind of situations tend to happen sometimes though, whereby intercultural couples get sucked into a quarrel about certain expectations that may exist in the society you’re living in – Chinese society in this case. These expectations are usually brought up by people in same-cultural relationships and projected upon the intercultural one. A very common example: in the past it would often occur that my girlfriend would come back from visiting friends or relatives, and suddenly declare that an apartment should be bought, because renting one is a waste of money. And if I didn’t have the money, I should then borrow it from family and friends, which, in my culture is rather frowned upon. You can already guess what happened next. ;)
這樣的事情之前也發生過幾次，其實這樣的情況在跨文化情侶中常會出現，這是由於雙方所處的社會不同，導致對同一件事的看法或期望不同而引發爭吵，一方會以自己所處的社會所引導的認知來要求有著不同文化背景的另一方。舉一個非常常見的例子：以前經常上演的一幕是，在我和女友看望朋友或親戚回來後，她就會說該買房子了，理由是租房很浪費錢。如果我沒有足夠的錢，還要向家人和朋友借，這一點在我的文化中，大家一般是不支持的。接下來你都能猜到會發生什麼，哈哈。
I can honestly say, there hasn’t been a dull moment in our Sino-Belgian relationship (sounds more like a joint-venture endeavor, haha). On the one hand, we have to deal with the customs and expectations of Chinese society, and on the other hand, constantly debunk stereotypes about the foreign element present in that intercultural equation, i.e. me, myself and I.
總體來說，我們倆這種中國和比利時聯合的關係一直不錯(聽起來像一個合資企業，哈哈)。在中國，一方面，我們要應對中國社會的風俗習慣和期望；另一方面，在這種跨文化交流中，我還要不斷去除他們對老外的這種固有印象。
Luckily, as a Belgian, I don’t have to live up to a lot of stereotypical expectations. I’m not French, so I don’t have to be romantic. I’m not from Latin America, so I can continue to give everyone the cold shoulder. ;) And I’m not English, so I don’t need to be a gentleman either. I can just keep enjoying my chocolates, beer and waffles, while I’m watching the Smurfs on TV.
幸運的是，作為一個比利時人，我不用滿足很多固有的期望。我不是法國人，我不必太浪漫；我不是拉丁美洲人，我不用很熱情；我不是英國人，所以我也不需要那樣紳士。我只想一邊看藍精靈，一邊享受巧克力、啤酒和華夫餅。
Over these past 8 years in China, I』ve learned to deal with the societal expectations and stereotypes that are haphazardly being projected upon us (and me). Although it does affect our relationship from time to time, it has also made our bond and devotion to each other stronger. It’s a fine line, balancing between falling in line and going against the current to fight for what you believe in. Those who persevere win in the end though. ;)
在中國的8年裡，我學會了應對社會對我們的期望和固有印象。雖然它有時會對我們的戀愛造成影響，但是它也加強了我們之間的紐帶，讓我們更願意為彼此付出。遵守常規還是打破現狀去追求你堅信的東西之間有一個微妙的界限，你要去平衡這兩者。但是，那些堅持不懈的人總會贏得勝利的。
Happy Chinese Modern Valentine's Day!
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