East is East

We were in our "family" Thai restaurant the other day (the one where the owner's wife buys presents for our children), and, as often happens in exotic restaurants, Ian turned to anthropology:

"I think that in Thailand, it's probably a little bit more like China than here."

I had to agree. Buddhism, ancestor worship, largely similar temples and statuary, rice rather than bread as the core starch... I didn't want to bias the lad with my own preferences, so I didn't tell him that China is milktoast compared to Thailand...

At this point, Ian offered another cultural insight - one of his own - but he said it in a whisper, even though he and I were having this dialog, in the men's room - one of those single-serve ones - one one of our all-boys-go-potty ventures. The door was shut and locked, the restroom was at the end of a narrow corridor, but he still whispered this sensitive observation, so as not to offend our hosts:

"They probably [whisper] both believe in dragons."

I think Mulan and restaurant decor get credit for this unusual insight.

He also asked me if Thailand is near China. I said I thought it was a few countries south of China, and told him we could look at it on the globe at home. At this point, he got really excited - gasping and grinning:

"Is it on that globe that we have?"

Yes, even American globes have foreign countries on them...

(March 13, 2011)

(March 13, 2011)