Asian tourists

m@cc@

What is their obsession with getting photos taken beside scaffolding and garbage bins? Actually, what is their obsession with taking pictures of seemingly mundane things? Granted, I'm probably giving into a stereotype here but I don't know of many people who go to Asia to take pictures of Asian traffic cones.

Jesus Wept

m@cc@ wrote: »

Granted, I'm probably giving into a stereotype here

Really?!

m@cc@ wrote: »

but I don't know of many people who go to Asia to take pictures of Asian traffic cones.

I would.

admiralofthefleet

ive never seen them do it in dublin but they are here spending money and in the current climate thats all that matters

El Weirdo

m@cc@ wrote: »

... what is their obsession with taking seemingly mundane things?

So you're accusing Asian people of being thieves? Racist!

starbelgrade

m@cc@ wrote: »

What is their obsession with getting photos taking beside scaffolding and garbage bins? Actually, what is their obsession with taking seemingly mundane things?

What is your obsession with Asian tourists about? If they want to come to your country & take photos of bins, scaffolding, or dog poo, then what difference does it make to you - besides contributing to your tourist economy?

Here's an idea - next time you see an Asian tourist taking a photo of a bin, why don't you ask them why they are doing it?

You might get more real information & interaction than you would do by starting an thread on a forum about it.

m@cc@

El Weirdo wrote: »

So you're accusing Asian people of being thieves? Racist!

That's what I get for trying to multi-task.

m@cc@

starbelgrade wrote: »

You might get more real information & interaction than you would do by starting an thread on a forum about it.

WTF are you on about? Are you seriously trying to imply that AH is not a source of real information and interaction?


















Moron. :rolleyes:

squod

Wow. Asian 'cones kick ass.

http://zedomax.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/traffic-cone-lamp.jpg

davyjose

starbelgrade wrote: »

You might get more real information & interaction than you would do by starting an thread on a forum about it.

Yes because nobody ever starts threads on AH about random things.

brummytom

Yeah it tends to be the Japanese who do it most. Does my fcukin head in... you'll be walking down the street and suddenly get a massive group flashing a camera in your face and ooh-ing and aah-ing.


Fuck off!

FearDark

Ah... harro!

Saw the same thing when I was on holiday in Australia with 2 japanese couples on the same tour as us.

On a 4 hour outing they must have taken over a thousand photos, was insane

davyjose

brummytom wrote: »

Yeah it tends to be the Japanese who do it most. Does my fcukin head in... you'll be walking down the street and suddenly get a massive group flashing a camera in your face and ooh-ing and aah-ing.


Fuck off!

You do realise Ooh and aah are the japanese for Teenage and Virgin?

admiralofthefleet

why do all the asians in london live in harrow?


because when they get off the plane and into a taxi the first thing they say is 'harro taxi drivah'

cafecolour

I probably should start including traffic cones in my pictures. I'm prone to go wandering up lovely hills with lovely views and then taking 200 pictures that all look exactly life.

brummytom

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

why do all the asians in london live in harrow?


because when they get off the plane and into a taxi the first thing they say is 'harro taxi drivah'

Yep.. Scooby Doo had the same problem

bonerm

Ah yes, those Asians again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbtZMOi2AtI

starbelgrade

m@cc@ wrote: »

WTF are you on about? Moron. :rolleyes:

F*cking asians, coming over to our country, taking photos of random things.

m@cc@

The Chinese are a great bunch of lads, though.

starbelgrade wrote: »

F*cking asians, coming over to our country, taking photos of random things.

And our women and jobs! :mad:

starbelgrade

m@cc@ wrote: »

The Chinese are a great bunch of lads, though.

Shame then that their political system is in turmoil all the time, what with them waking up to elections every day.

squod

Chinese traffic cone spotters, crazy.
http://www.trafficcone.com/

squod

squod wrote: »

Chinese traffic cone spotters, crazy.
http://www.trafficcone.com/

what.the.hell

m@cc@

starbelgrade wrote: »

Shame then that their political system is in turmoil all the time, what with them waking up to elections every day.

Either my post went over your head or your post has went over mine. I'm thinking the former.

Bonito

brummytom wrote: »

Yeah it tends to be the Japanese who do it most. Does my fcukin head in... you'll be walking down the street and suddenly get a massive group flashing a camera in your face and ooh-ing and aah-ing.


Fuck off!

3 Japanese tourists walk in to a bar. Flusterring with their map and putting it on the counter and speaking in Japanese roused up the whole bar and all the punters were looking at them.

"We can't find it, where is it?" they kept saying.

Finally an elder gent sitting alone at the bar pips up and shouts down to the 3 tourists;

あなたは真珠の港を発見！

m@cc@

Bonito wrote: »

あなたは真珠の港を発見！

All I'm seeing is a line of squares.

starbelgrade

m@cc@ wrote: »

Either my post went over your head or your post has went over mine. I'm thinking the former.

Most dudes wake up with erections, but the Chinese wake up with elections.

Bonito

m@cc@ wrote: »

All I'm seeing is a line of squares.

:cool:

Posy

I remember a lovely polite Chinese tourist asking me to take his photo in front of the spire once (speaking of having photos taken with garbage) and pressed his super expensive looking, high-tech camera upon me to do it.
He was so trusting, I felt kind of bad running off with it.

(not really of course, I took a lovely photo of him which I'm sure he treasures, along with his fond memories of this lovely country)

CianRyan

squod wrote: »

Wow. Asian 'cones kick ass.

http://zedomax.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/traffic-cone-lamp.jpg

Take a walk down the High Street in Tallaght.
We're constantly putting cones over the lights on the ground, which seems to be what's going on here.

Yes, it looks deadly and I love doing it.


...I am also, a mad lad.

CianRyan

Bonito wrote: »

3 Japanese tourists walk in to a bar. Flusterring with their map and putting it on the counter and speaking in Japanese roused up the whole bar and all the punters were looking at them.

"We can't find it, where is it?" they kept saying.

Finally an elder gent sitting alone at the bar pips up and shouts down to the 3 tourists;

あなたは真珠の港を発見！

Oh ****ing hell... Hahahahaha

McChubbin

Relevant and hilerious.
Warning: NSFW Lyrics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9t46Zdq6n8

Columbia

God damn, how dare they come into this country, spending their hard-earned cash and stimulating our hopeless economy.

brummytom

Bonito wrote: »

3 Japanese tourists walk in to a bar. Flusterring with their map and putting it on the counter and speaking in Japanese roused up the whole bar and all the punters were looking at them.

"We can't find it, where is it?" they kept saying.

Finally an elder gent sitting alone at the bar pips up and shouts down to the 3 tourists;

あなたは真珠の港を発見！

Not all Japanese people have the equipment to read maps their military had though... the silly old man

vicecreamsundae

this just reminded me that my favourite three seconds of that movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall is where the asian couple in the hotel restaurant are taking pictures of themselves posing with the fork and knife about to dig into breakfast.


but back on topic, i haven't noticed this, but everyone i know who has been to japan/tokyo/korea has photos of them standing next to vending machines or holding products that have crazy packaging to us, but would look mundane to the people over there.

m@cc@

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

holding products that have crazy packaging to us

You mean transexuals, don't you?

Lanaier

m@cc@ wrote: »

What is their obsession with getting photos taking beside scaffolding and garbage bins? Actually, what is their obsession with taking pictures of seemingly mundane things? Granted, I'm probably giving into a stereotype here but I don't know of many people who go to Asia to take pictures of Asian traffic cones.

It may be a stereotype, but after 7 years in China I can back it up.

Obviously nowhere has more Chinese tourists than China itself, and they really do have an endless fascination with photos of both the mundane and the beautiful alike.
The fascination is not in the object/scenery itself, but in the standing in front of said object doing the peace/victory hand sign.

I have never seen a Chinese photo album with a picture of just some beautiful mountain or ancient statue, there will always be someone standing in front of it and they will ALWAYS be doing the peace sign, all of them. If there are 20 youngish people in the photo they will all be doing the peace sign.
I guess the idea is to prove they were there?
At some sites I noticed people will walk up to the touristy object with no emotion on their face, not even look at the thing....take the photo all smiles, and move on to the next thing with a blank expression.
like a conveyor belt.

I have been on holiday in some remote regions in China and people I was with usually try to either take my camera and get me to stand in front of what I was taking a pic of .....or stand in front of it themselves and do the peace sign

Xavi6

Ah good oul Asian tourists.

Was up north the other week on a four wheel drive tour on a road not designed for small cars. Passed a very large 'Reduce Speed' sign as there was a T junction coming up.

About 50 metres later, we came across a car that had obviously ignored the sign and gone straight through the junction, getting bogged in the soft sand.

Obviously we hopped out to help these Asian tourists but do ya think the feckers would help? No chance. They stood around taking photos of each other, the car, and us while we did the work.

Last time I help the bastards.

pierrot

Bonito wrote: »

あなたは真珠の港を発見！

You discover Pearl Harbour ??

Lanaier

Xavi6 wrote: »

They stood around taking photos of each other, the car, and us while we did the work.

Wow, what cuntz!

Did they say thanks?

davef1000

Well, I mean, what harm if people want to follow them around the country? I don't like the band, but whatever you're into yourself, y'know?

Prof.Badass

Damn commies and their recon missions.....

eightyfish

m@cc@ wrote: »

What is their obsession with getting photos taken beside scaffolding and garbage bins? Actually, what is their obsession with taking pictures of seemingly mundane things?

Interesting question. I read a New Scientist article relating to this a couple of years ago - Asians see the world slightly differently to westerners, specifically Americans. Here it is:

Westerners and Easterners see the world differently

22:00 22 August 2005 by Zeeya Merali

Chinese and American people see the world differently - literally. While Americans focus on the central objects of photographs, Chinese individuals pay more attention to the image as a whole, according to psychologists at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, US.

"There is plenty of anecdotal evidence suggesting that Western and East Asian people have contrasting world-views," explains Richard Nisbett, who carried out the study. "Americans break things down analytically, focusing on putting objects into categories and working out what rules they should obey," he says.

By contrast, East Asians have a more holistic philosophy, looking at objects in relation to the whole. "Figuratively, Americans see things in black and white, while East Asians see more shades of grey," says Nisbett. "We wanted to devise an experiment to see if that translated to a literal difference in what they actually see."

The researchers tracked the eye-movements of two groups of students while they looked at photographs. One group contained American-born graduates of European descent and the other was comprised of Chinese-born graduate students who came to the US after their undergraduate degrees.

Each picture showed a striking central image placed in a realistic background, such as a tiger in a jungle. They found that the American students spent longer looking at the central object, while the Chinese students' eyes tended to dart around, taking in the context.

Harmony versus goals

Nisbett and his colleagues believe that this distinctive pattern has developed because of the philosophies of these two cultures. "Harmony is a central idea in East Asian philosophy, and so there is more emphasis on how things relate to the whole," says Nisbett. "In the West, by contrast, life is about achieving goals."

Psychologists watching American and Japanese families playing with toys have also noted this difference. "An American mother will say: ‘Look Billy, a truck. It's shiny and has wheels.' The focus is on the object," explains Nisbett. By contrast, Japanese mothers stress context saying things like, "I push the truck to you and you push it to me. When you throw it at the wall, the wall says ‘ouch'."

Nisbett also cites language development in the cultures. "To Westerners it seems obvious that babies learn nouns more easily. But while this is the case in the West, studies show that Korean and Chinese children pick up verbs - which relate objects to each other - more easily.

"Nisbett's work is interesting and suggestive," says John Findlay, a psychologist specialising in human visual attention at Durham University, UK. "It's always difficult to put an objective measure on cultural differences, but this group have made a step towards that."

Nisbett hopes that his work will change the way the cultures view each other. "Understanding that there is a real difference in the way people think should form the basis of respect."

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (vol 102, p 12629)

pickarooney

McChubbin wrote: »

Relevant and hilerious.
Warning: NSFW Lyrics.

You're warning us not to sing along with it in the office?

DamoDLK

Macca, you live here in Melbo right? are u on about the tourists down Flinders street? Because if you are i actually saw an Asian tourist taking a photo of one of those benches outside the Cathedral, those green ones.

-BUT-

A few of my female work colleagues in the office are Asian, which makes me very happy:) 'cause they're bleeding gorgeous!

123balltv

All Asians should become paparazzi's

spoonface

m@cc@ wrote: »

What is their obsession with getting photos taken beside scaffolding and garbage bins? Actually, what is their obsession with taking pictures of seemingly mundane things? Granted, I'm probably giving into a stereotype here but I don't know of many people who go to Asia to take pictures of Asian traffic cones.

We mightn't take pictures of their traffic cones but yes people do take pictures of their manholes which are decorative and quite different to ours.

It's just possible that mundane things here are quite different to where they live and this difference is why they left home to look at the rest of the world - vive la difference!

Would you not marvel at asian toilets, night markets, tai chi in the streets, the cherry blossom festival, sumo, ways of dressing, cultural fads if you were over in Asia on holidays.

Your impatience for their patient attention to detail is kinda funny. Your point seems to be "I don't understand how Asians are different in what interests them." but why would you expect people from half way round the world to be just the same? Do you know that in China it's normal to count to ten on one hand? Things are different, interests are different and thank God for that.

Xluna

The Japs find our dirty streets a novelty.

Truley

OP have a look back at your own holiday snaps and i'm sure it will be full of mundane cr*p. My photos from Berlin include graffitti, funny products from the supermarket, signs on the metro, posters, shop fronts we found interesting, bumper stickers. It's the cool little differences that make visiting a differenet country so awesome