October 22, 2012

Last night was one of those where only a video could capture the true nuttiness.  Kids and I decided to walk to the local burger joint for dinner, which meant walking through the park across the street.  It was after sunset, and as we're strolling through, out of nowhere comes this kid with a remote control car and he cuts right in front of us...we nearly stepped on his toy.  We watched in amazement as he proceeds to drive right into a pole, backs it up, then rams it into the pole again.  They learn young here and the kid is a natural Taiwanese driver...we could see his Papa standing to the side with obvious pride. 

A few moments later, we're walking by the market and see a small child (3 year oldish) being pushed in a shopping cart like this. 


We commented that while ethically we prefer a free range child, the meat on the caged ones is much more tender.  People don't really use strollers for their kids here...presume it's due to the fact that the sidewalks aren't all that great, when they exist at all, so it doesn't make sense to use them.  Was talking to some new parents that were looking for a stroller without much luck, until they passed by a store and saw a dozen different ones in the window.  Happily, they went inside only to find out that it was a pet store and the strollers were for the Snack dogs that are favored here.  Never did learn if they bought one or not...will have to get a picture of one with a doggy inside, which shouldn't be too hard as you see them everywhere.

We got to the burger place and since it was so crowded, we sat at the counter by the window.  There were four stools and as there were three of us, the fourth chair was occupied by a guy that was just finishing his meal.  As soon as we sit down, we hear the guy making a sucking sound...over and over.  Kinda sounded like Bugs Bunny chewing before he says "What's up Doc?"  Was pretty gross and we were glad that he finished his meal and left.  Paul said I was mean when I said that his constant sucking was probably the reason he was eating alone.  I stand by my assumption.

Dinner for us is typically the time when we have our more esoteric conversations.  Last night Carolyn was curious regarding the local ladies penchant of avoiding the sun at all costs in an effort to have the pastiest skin color possible, and to be slim but to not show signs of working out.  Coming from a culture that prizes an even tan and a toned physique, it was an opportunity to have the "it's not weird, just different" conversations.  It's been explained numerous times that the reason for the light skin/no work look here, also aptly described as looking like tofu, is to show that the ladies are in a position in life where they do not have to work as outside laborers.  I'd have a hard time tying to explain/defend this look to anyone outside of the Pacific Northwest



The other topic that came up last night was why they drink their water warm/hot at meals instead of cold (especially when it's stinking hot outside).  As we've found with most things, the answers vary (below is a decent short synopsis of them found onlone along with the typical debunking).  I told the kids to be happy that we can go into any restaurant and drink the water without fear of Montezuma's Revenge.  Gonna have to find out what the call that here.

I've you've lived in China and in the West, I'm sure you've noticed the contrast. Meals in the West tend to come with tall glasses of ice water. Meals in China come with tiny cups of hot water, or tea. Tea, of course, has been a part of China's culture for millenia, but why the hot water?

It turns out, unsurprisingly, that there are a number of answers to this question. Some people report that their parents taught them to drink hot water with meals, because mixing cold liquids with hot meals is bad for the stomach. Others go further into the "science" of it, alleging that cold liquids solidify fats in your stomach, which can cause digestive problems, whereas hot liquids aid in digestion. Still others cite the habit as having stemmed from the traditional need to boil water before drinking it to remove germs (and indeed, even today, you're probably going to get sick if you don't boil Chinese tapwater before drinking it). Most people, though, will probably give you the same answer I just got from a friend: "It's good for your health."

That may be true, but from a scientific standpoint, it appears that neither the cold water fanatics nor China's hot water purists have much of a case. According to an article from Snopes.com about the issue, everything you eat and drink matches your internal body temperature fairly quickly once it's in your stomach, and cold liquids do not "solidify fats" as anything solid is broken by the stomach's powerful acids.