“Somebody’s watchin’ me…”
Ok, I won’t judge you if you weren’t able to finish the line from Rockwell’s mid-80s song:). For those who do know the song, I’m sorry if it’s is now stuck in your head!
If you’ve ever been to China, however, you know just how relevant this song is.
Since we’ve been here, sometimes I marvel at how safe I feel. I don’t think twice about letting Rachel run to her friends’ apartment on her own. Rachel and Robby love that they can go to the community store, about a 3 minute walk , on their own. And, I don’t even think twice about walking alone at night.
Whether real or perceived , consistent crime statistics have eluded me, China feels like a safe place to live. The statistics I have been able to find support my perception. The burglary rate in the US is 8x that of China, violent crime in the US is 18x that of China and assaults in the US are 83x that of China. These were just a few of the stats I noted, but honestly, the list could go on and on.
But safety comes at a cost.
One thing you can’t forget is that China, The People’s Republic of China, is governed by the Communist Party of China. Through this governing arm, there are tight, I mean really tight rules and regulations.
Sometimes, minor inconveniences remind you that people are watching. For example, in our apartment, we get a few English speaking stations, including CNN. Rob LOVES all things news, so it seems that CNN is always on in our apartment. Every now and then, however, CNN will just go black. You may not notice it immediately – it usually comes back on in a few minutes. When we first moved in, we thought something was wrong with the TV. Then it hit us, it’s the censors – censoring out a point of view on the news that the governing party doesn’t want to be broadcasted in China.
Another example- this coming up weekend, the local expat paper has written several reminders for foreigners to ensure they have their passports and residences papers ready to present at a moment’s notice; police can request proof that you’re in China legally at any time. Rob found this one out the hard way when he was taken to a Chinese police station for not having his on him once (talk about a scary night for him!)
And you can’t forget the cameras, where literally, everyone IS watching you. One day I walked home from dropping Robby off at the bus stop – his bus stop is within our community and is no more than 1/4 mile from our apartment On the way home, I counted 13, yes 13, security cameras; including 2 on my apartment floor (which only has 3 apartments).
So while I do enjoy the peace of mind that living in a safe community brings, I can never shake the feeling of intrusion that I get whenever I remember that eyes are always watching.
(Star) Transition 