随便 sui bian

In learning a new language, I am learning there are a lot of useful words that we don't have exact translations for in English. One of my favorites is 随便 "sui bian." In one of my Chinese-English dictionaries it is defined as "casual, random; careless." I find it most often translated into the English words whatever, whoever, whenever, however, etc. In general it seems to embody a relaxed and flexible attitude toward something. If someone is very sui bian, then they would probably be called very "easy going" in English. It has some other meanings, but this is the meaning that I enjoy using because it reminds me of the attitude I need to have here living in another country. We are often surprised by life out here, the differences in thinking, the things people do and the way things get done. I always thought were were pretty easy-going people (growing up in relaxed Santa Cruz), but the stresses of cross-cultural living test that laid back attitude and we find ourselves more easily frustrated than usual sometimes. The more people I meet who have been living out here for a long time the more I see a correlation between the sui bian attitude and those who have been through a lot out here. Those that seem to be wound up tight are constantly struggling in daily life out here. While continuing to be purposeful about our living, we are often reminded that a little sui bian goes a long way to help us relax and not stress about the differences. ~ Justin