有意思：Interesting
I wanted to take a little time to point out some things that I have discovered in my short time here that have struck me as interesting.
The first thing is the crazy amount of PDA (ie public cuddling, kissing, or hand holding). Last semester I took a class on China and read a book, written by journalist Peter Hessler, called Oracle Bones. The book is relatively new (I think mid 2000s) and was written about Hessler's experiences in China over the previous decade. In it he referenced some of his former students (he taught English for a while) and their courtship and eventual marriage. The courtship involved a written letter from the boy to his female classmate inviting her to meet him and take a walk. During this walk they neither talked nor held hands but that was their first date. Hessler used this as an example to illustrate the formality in Chinese dating and the strict adherence to old cultural norms. Considering that is what I had read I was shocked when I saw the level of PDA on campus here. It's like a bunch of freshman at their first boy-girl party. Everywhere I look there's a young couple snuggling on a bench, holding hands while walking, embracing, or (my personal favorite) holding hands while roller blading (gives me a nice 90s flashback). This must be a relatively recent trend considering Hessler's book was written around the turn of the millennium. My guess is the extreme amount of PDA likely comes from the fact that it is new and therefore cherished. Regardless it's pretty interesting.
Another thing I noticed early on was the way people eat. Obviously everyone here uses chopsticks; however, I payed particular attention to how they're used them since I didn't want to seem ignorant (my former glory days of stabbing my food with them or using them to imitate a walrus have sadly come to an end). What I noticed was there didn't seem to be one proper way to hold them. Some held them all the way at the end, leaving a great distance between their hand and the stick, while others (including myself) held them closer to the end, leaving a relatively small distance between the food and their fingers. As I said, I wanted to know what was up, so at lunch I asked one of my teachers (who held it up top) if the way I was doing it was correct. She told me it was, so I asked her why some held it one way while others another. Apparently it depends where you sit at the table. At restaurants all the tables are circular with Lazy Susan's in the middle so everyone is equidistant from the food. However, at family tables it is not so. The father sits at the head of the table and the food is placed in front of him. Then next to him sit his wife and son(s) and then his sit daughter(s) farthest way. So men generally hold their chopsticks down low because they can easily reach the plate, where as girls with brothers hold them at the top because they need a longer reach. Thought that was cool.
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| Restaurant style table with food in middle on spinning tray. |
Lastly all girls carry umbrellas for the sun. They're generally fancy looking and legit every girl has them. A lot of men have man purses, like straight gucci/louis vaton/prada man purses. I think its a way to flash wealth but honestly idk (not a huge fan. the only crossover between men's and women's fashion should be with man ugs because they are ridiculously comfortable and everyone deserves to walk on a cloud). I hope you found these things very 有意思, I know I did.
