Oh my Lord Cabinhost,
I missed your post above so had to edit. Wow. So I thought I had issues. Stickers? Clay? Broken sofa bed, and please do tell how it is even possible to put a hole in a bath mat!! It is true you aren’t around to suffer so much of the emotional turmoil, but woah, coming back to find that kind of destruction would have my nerves frayed. And I am not surprised to hear that it was the people with three kids that just thought they could use your place like a jungle gym. It’s true. It is sickening. Just because they treat their own home that way, it doesn’t mean others will be so happy to have their home torn up. I would cry as soon as they arrived, and feel upset the whole time.
In regards to the cultural thing, I lived in Singapore for a couple of years, so I am pretty familiar with the Chinese and other Asians that lived there, and from other travels throughout Asia (Philippinos, Malaysians, Vietnamese, Japanese, Indians). I have to say, that the Chinese themselves are incredibly racist and elitist about their own culture, they look down on white people, and actually all other cultures, and the behavior in my home is unfortunately very similar to what I experienced while living in Asia. There was no desire on the part of the Chinese to be helpful in any way to a white person living in Singapore, and I would often encounter barely disguised hatred. Things such as asking for directions to the bathroom in a department store, and the staff that worked there saying they had no idea in a disdainful way, only to walk a few meters and find it was just there. Singaporeans speak good English or what they call Singlish as it has some Singapore slang thrown in, so it wasn’t language difficulty. They treat their maids (usually phillipino, some Malaysian, Indian) worse than the family dog. Regular people can afford them there, because it is practically as cheap as slave labor. You can keep them in a room without windows, and not even large enough for a bed (kennel size). And pay them hardly anything. I’ll never forget the day our agent took us to the condo we lived in and excitedly told us the horrible little closet with a tiny window looking into the garbage shoot area, and right next to all the noisy A/C’s was a 'GREAT! maids room, because usually they have no window! '. We’d never think of treating people like that anymore, as we’ve finally become aware (at least in some ways, of human rights), although this isn’t strictly true either. But this really was a whole other level I had never seen.
My conversation was really about the respect Chinese have for others, and I believe from what I have experienced, they’re not taught the same courtesy or manners, and many dont seem interested in being considerate. This is certainly not a rule, as my experience is small, and I haven’t met every Chinese person, and it certainly does not account for Chinese people that grew up in the US, or have spent time here learning our culture. Anyone can end up entitled if not given boundaries.
I did enjoy my visits to Hong Kong and China. Very interesting, and lots of beautiful places to see in China. Lots to be proud of. I do think the one child policy, (which has really resulted in a ‘one boy’ policy -over 60%, as boys being more prized were kept while girl children aborted or left in orphanages) has caused parents to spoil their little princes rotten, wanting them to become the successful kings they hope them to be, after all, their old age depends on this child’s ability to support and care for them. I believe we got a spoilt little prince. As far as the girl? She cared for no one but her prince and herself. Not ideal guests in a home type airbnb. I can’t speak for others.
On experiencing racism elsewhere, I also experienced it in southern India. Despite adopting the modest local dress and behaving respectfully (unlike many travelers who offended the pretty strict religious region we were in), the owners of the home we were renting the top floor of for a couple of weeks (they lived below) could barely disguise their distaste for us. Of course, I smoked Cuban cigars occasionally near the front gate of the garden area. Things came to a head one evening when my husband and I got attacked when a group tried to steal our MacBook outside the home. I got punched in the head, and got knocked out for a minute as my head flew into a cement wall. We struggled in safely, but scared, and asked for help from the owners. The man wanted to help, but the woman looked at me with disapproving hatred. She left the room, and I sat there alone with the husband, who was now in a very awkward spot, because the woman had shown she wouldn’t sit in the same room as me (the others were trying to get help from the police). Finally after a couple of tense minutes, the husband had to tell me to wait outside on my own in the dark, dizzy, in shock, and now turned away by the people that couldn’t stand me for being western and having a different religion/caste.
Now that went way off track. Sorry.