Today I was enjoying lunch with a group of friends at a Hot-Pot restaurant, where you cook your own food in a soup-type broth in the middle of the table. So yummy!! Because the group of people I was with was kind of large we had a long table with two pots for cooking. So while we were sitting around "going fishing" in the hot-soup-pot with our chopsticks for treasures of shrimp, mushrooms, tofu skin, lotus root, lamb, potato, chicken, tripe, cilantro, and intestines (well, some of those I let just swim on by), a question came up in my mind that I was curious about.
How many coats does the average Chinese girl own?
You see, it just dawned on me a week or so ago that many of my Chinese friends are wearing a different coat just about every time I see them! One friend just got three new coats for Chinese New Year! I can understand having three, four, five, six, or maybe even 8 different coats for different weather and occasions, but much beyond that seems so surprising to me! I am always wearing the same coat!
I started taking a poll around the table (there were 10 of us in all)
Here's the results from the foreigners:
Me: 5
Ab: 4
Ra: 1 (she's from Florida)
Ho:4
Da: 3
Results from middle-class Chinese college students and 20somethings:
Ka: more than 20
Ma: more than 30
Be: ~30
Mi: more than 20
Sh: she cleaned out her closet and threw away 10 coats a couple weeks ago and so now she only has ~30.
Isn't that interesting?!
It sort of makes sense when you think about the cold winters in China and how hardly anyone uses heat inside buildings. People don't really take their coats off all winter here and so no one really sees their clothes under their coats. It's like the coat is China's winter version of a shirt! So naturally you'd want to switch it up! It's also a big part of the fashion trend. My friend also logically pointed out that you need more coats so that while you are washing one (or several) you have others to wear!
After being in China now for two and a half years, most everything is feeling pretty "normal" to me. I'm just living life and by His grace doing what He is doing, seeking to love the one in front of me. I can't help but smile at the interesting discoveries that still surprise me about this land and the beautiful people here.
So, how many coats do you have?
so interesting!! this is something i never knew!
ReplyDeleteHey Sarah! You are amazing to be His hands and feet in your part of China. This is such a fun entry with insights into the culture around you. I only have 3 thick-ish coats and 3-4 jackets. I totally understand how those girls want to switch it up... but I wonder where/how they store them! :-) Hope to see you later this year!
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