Assimilation

It's happening.

I don't know why I didn't see it before -- the signs have been there for a while now. My reluctance to eat peanuts with anything besides chopsticks. The speed with which I can crack open a sunflower seed with my teeth. Outrage at the thought of missing my afternoon nap.

I'm turning Chinese.

This was really brought home to me when I came back from Sichuan last week. Suddenly, the bathroom that I complained about just a few months ago seemed luxurious. A shower! With hot water! It felt great to take that first shower in my own bathroom. But it felt weird to take one again the very next day. It just felt... a little...too soon. Hm...

The next sign was that I felt that my bed was a little bit too soft. I found myself thinking with longing of the wooden platform cushioned with a blanket that served as my bed in Sichuan. When visiting my friend's dorm room yesterday, I realized that I was looking with greedy eyes at the wooden plank that is her bed. Hm...

Afterwards, when I got back to my dorm room, I started to make a list of the things that I do here that I would never do at home. Here's what I came up with:

- I often drink my beverages out of a bowl, as opposed to out of a cup.

- I know better than to look for a seat belt in the back seats of cars.

- I use a tiny scrap of tissue as a napkin after meals.

- If there is a saucer on the table at dinner, I know it is for refuse, not for food.

- I never ever ever let my purse touch the floor.

- I have a small plastic monkey hanging off of my cell phone. And I think it's cool.

- I link arms with my girlfriends when we walk around outside.

- I don't go Dutch. Either I pay for everyone, or someone else pays for everyone.

- I walk in the street, not on the sidewalk.

- I spit seeds, pits, and husks directly onto the ground.

- I slurp loudly when consuming any liquid, including soup and noodles.

- I feel totally comfortable commenting on someone's weight or complexion.

Things really came to a head this afternoon, when I went ahead and purchased the two crucial items that stand between "foreigners" and Chinese: a giant thermos, and a large plastic bowl.

The thermos is a godsend. It can keep water steaming for hours, so I don't have to trek upstairs to the water boiler every time I want a glass of water. Because drinking water colder than room temperature is simply unacceptable.

The bowl is a multi-purpose necessity. It can be used to wash clothing by hand, which I need to do because the washing machine has a nasty habit of creating pills on all of my tights and sweaters. More importantly, it can be used to soak one's feet in hot water before hopping into bed. No one, and I mean no one, goes to bed here without soaking their feet first.

Including me.