For all the dreams and schemes,
people are as they seem
On a hot summer night
Don't be no fun, don't forget you're young
On a hot summer night
-Billy Idol
Year after year, summer after summer, I grew up with the same familiar
living room scene. The oak trees hedging the house had yet to reach maturity,
so the summer sun would blaze through the floor to ceiling windows, bringing
the inside temperature to an uncomfortable toasty. Below the ceiling fans and
the over-worked air conditioner, my dad would relax in his lounge chair
watching CNN and drinking diet root beer. He wore only two things: his navy
blue shorts and headphones.
I have been having flashbacks of my dad’s round, bare belly. Why?
Because when it’s hot in this city, Chinese bellies appear. The bellies come in
all shapes, sizes, and ages. Some bellies resemble Buddha’s firm rotundness.
Some bellies long and thin like a green bean. Men eating dinner, watching
mahjong games, watching their baby grandchildren, sitting around shooting the
breeze—all with their shirts tucked up exposing their brown midriffs. At the
same time, one hand gingerly rubbing around the belly button.
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| This mahjong game is intense! |
Westerners, like us, chuckle at this fashion faux pas. But to the
Chinese, airing out one’s midriff is as sensible as turning on the AC. Despite having
studied abroad in the U.S., desperately wanting to leave China, and having a Frappuccino
addiction, our very Westernized Chinese friend responded to our snickering with
this unamused piece of logic: “They do that because it’s hot.” Right, it’s hot.
Let it all hang out. Beijing, after all, is sweltering.
Now a week into the September, the daytime temperatures are bearable.
As summer wanes so should the belly exposure. But I will always think
fondly of my dad sitting in front of the TV, remote in one hand, a cup of diet
root beer in the other, and his Chinese, hairless chest and belly in plain sight.
Thank goodness manners are cultural, and not genetic. He always wore a
shirt when my friends came over. That would have been so embarrassing.
Love you Dad!
Chinese Word of the Blog: 闷热 mēn rè
English
translation: sultry / stifling hot
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| The upside of eating in a street: No dress code! |
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| Summer BBQ |
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| Lamb kabob and beer: a great summer meal |
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| Beat the heat with an umbrella hat |
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| Super moon on a clear night |
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| Summer lotus in all their glory |
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| Summer soccer! or football if you are not an American |
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| Are we back at Great Leap again? |
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| Summer also mean intense rain storms |
