Cultural Diversity

          Shandong University has a very nice swimming pool under the stadium.  I try to utilize that facility once a week.  It is Olympic length so I feel like I swim and swim before ever reaching the end of the lane.  The water is cool but clean.  One must shower before entering the pool and then walk through the "foot leaching pool”, that is a six foot long, 8 inch deep pool of ice cold water.  Each end of the long lanes has a plastic lined waste basket.  I question the reason for that until I remember I am in China where everyone spits.

          Throat clearing is a normal, constant sound everywhere here.  It is followed by the glorious reflex of spitting.  I still cringe when I know what is happening.  It is repulsive to me but an exercise practiced by men, women, and children.  Everything out of doors is covered with evidence of hawking.  I marvel at the beautiful track facility covered in phlegm.  The same is true for every sidewalk, step, and the hallways in some buildings.  The gross out factor makes my skin crawl but I am the only one bothered.  This is truly a cultural practice.  Tissues are not necessary as one nostril is covered while blowing the contents of the second.  Then, the reciprocal process occurs.   There is no need for embarrassment or privacy for such actions.  This may be sickening to me but when someone watched me blow my nose, fold the tissue and place it in my pocket I witnessed the disgust on his face.  Why would I save the tissue and its contents as though it were a valuable treasure?  Aha, cultural differences!

          I always believed the Asian custom of removing shoes before entering a home was a sign of respect and courtesy.  I DON’T THINK SO!!!  I now suspect that some brilliant woman in the Ming dynasty convinced the emperor that shoe removal would show such a display when in reality she was trying to keep her home clean and sanitary. 

          That unmistakable throat clearing sound still has me averting my eyes and attempting to cover my ears.  The custom will not change here; I must simply learn to avoid that unpleasant part of a very nice country and its wonderful people.

April 2016