girl's talk

[awch]

Not all athletes in China are involved in strenuous sports. What about ping-pong? How in shape do you have to be to play that??

[david_dawei]

Not all athletes in China are involved in strenuous sports. What about ping-pong? How in shape do you have to be to play that??

When I was in China for two months, I was playing ping pong for 2-3 hours when I played... It's a deceiving sport in terms of fitness, but I don't think that I would call it strenuous the way a runner or outdoor sport puts workout demands on the body.

 

I will say that I played a few women who were simply great players. It was fun to walk through a mall, see a table.. walk up and ask someone to play.. all the chinese guys would jump up to show 'this american how to play'. I made many friends.

[beijingjenny]

With birth control bills, it's actually possible to never have a period. This is becoming very fashionable. I don't know about in China though. Me, I thought pregnancy would be a relief, but I'll gladly take the periods back.

[frank1538]

I'm going to shift gears just a bit. Jingwen and I have been discussing what kind of diet KK, our daughter, should be on after her baby is born. Jingwen wants to eliminate vegetables from her diet, saying that it's necessary to keep the milk flowing. Other than the effect on the milk from tomatoes and other acidic vegetables, I don't remember there being any connection between vegetables and breast milk quantity.

 

Is this another tradition or is there some truth to it?

[Dan R]

Some truth to it because of increased fat and protein. Low fruit is desirable to keep sugar down. Vegetables on the other hand are good for vitamin/mineral intake and avoiding constipation. Soy with leafy greens like kale and spinach are very important for the increased soluable calcium, iron and protein needs.

 

The meat thing is related to traditionally available foods and TCM. All things in balance and moderation is a good rule.

[beijingjenny]

My lactation consultant just said to keep up pretty much the same diet, since the babies would be used to it already. But I suppose there really would be some changes needed.

 

Of course Jack's dad was horrified I would drink cold things while pregnant. But somehow me and the boys are surviving...

[tonado]

wow big difference!

 

almost every chinese girl won't do that~

 

the elder chinese women always tell us it will hurt your body

you can feel the damage especially when you get old~

the period is a very delicate thing for chinese girls I think

some of my friends eat date in their period

and never touch the cold stuff

 

thanks for your information 

When my wife has her period, she won't do much activities. She said activies can hurt your body.

[oregonknl]

Yeah, I'm experiencing many of these Chinese traditions here with Fei..

 

During her first period in America, we were doing very hard physical work on the new house... I asked her to push a full wheel barrow, and she said she was having her period.... I said something like: "so what?" BIG mistake, she was mad at me for days.... Although I now know that she really does lose strength during that time, and since then I have been giving her iron fortified vitamins, which seems to help quite a bit..

 

Wonder if anyone has heard about this: Recently, Fei corrected me for leaving tea leaves in the pot of tea over night in the refrigerator... Apparently, in China, when reusing tea leaves, for sanitary reasons, you are supposed to drain the tea into another pot if you arn't going to drink it in the first few hours. But I pointed out that if you just leave the wet leaves in the pot between uses, doesn't that allow mold or germs to grow on the leaves? For some reason, the answer is: "No" ---anyone else heard of this?

[maiyademama]

Girl talk? Interesting. Maybe someone already mentioned this and I missed it. The reason Chinese tend to stay away from cold beverages in general goes back to sanitation. Tap water is filthy in China and it has to be boiled before it is consumed or you risk illness. Many people just thought it was the cold temp that made them sick, but it is the BACTERIA and other ORGANISMS that exist in unpurified water and water based beverages that causes illness. It is an old wives tale that the majority of Chinese still believe.

 

Periods. Tampons are safe to use as long as you change regularly, and yes you can go swimming. However, it is necessary for the body to cleanse itself and to flush toxins during menstral flow, so many western obgyns advise at least wearing pads at night.

 

Lactation. A wonderful thing! Breast is Best! I know it is cliche but it is true. Did you know that nursing a child is a natural birth control? As long as a woman is lactating, her period won't start again until at least 6 months after giving birth. My period did not return for 9 months (not that I needed birth control ) -- Not getting a period doesn't always mean the same thing as being infertile, so its best to use a backup method even if you are nursing.

 

Lets see... How else can we scare these boys?

[lele]

both American mm and Chinese mm are welcome to leave your opinions on this ~

and gg are welcome too, to speak for your mm~  

I already can see a difference!

 

What about all of the jj and dd out there too (jiejie and diedie)? Why do some people from China always assume that people are meimei and gege?

 

But, thank you for a very interesting topic of discourse!

[ptcrusier333rph]

most of us been divorce here so we tend to know a lot about the monthly period. some women can be effected by it other don't each person different.

But we men do keep it in mind not to to be over insentive during that time, or find something to do

 

Robert

[beijingjenny]

I believe meimei and gege are terms in Chinese to refer to your girlfriend/boyfriend. Jiejie and didi are not. Though I could be wrong.

[sylinchinastill]

Huh- that is really fascinating. I have heard of people calling everyone gege or didi or Xiao- like people call my husband Xiao- his old friends and etc.- but that is fascinating that no-one uses jie jie and didi for love relationships. Hmmm- I will call my husband Yeye and see how that goes over.

[david_dawei]

Girl talk? Interesting. Maybe someone already mentioned this and I missed it. The reason Chinese tend to stay away from cold beverages in general goes back to sanitation. Tap water is filthy in China and it has to be boiled before it is consumed or you risk illness. Many people just thought it was the cold temp that made them sick, but it is the BACTERIA and other ORGANISMS that exist in unpurified water and water based beverages that causes illness. It is an old wives tale that the majority of Chinese still believe.

Seems similar to the question of "why cook lettuce?".

 

In the past, maybe present(!), human feces were used as fertilizer.. so to ensure the lettuce was safe to eat, best to cook it.

[david_dawei]

I believe meimei and gege are terms in Chinese to refer to your girlfriend/boyfriend. Jiejie and didi are not. Though I could be wrong.

MM is short for 'Mei Mei' , younger sister - also used for loving girlfriend/wife

 

GG is short for 'Ge Ge' , elder brother - also used for loving boyfriend/husband

 

I think its usage ties back to the Chinese classic writing, ''dream of the red chamber', where the woman's name in the love story is 'Lin Mei Mei'.