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I'm prejudiced against vegetarians. And the strange thing is, I think they're right! I wouldn't say I'm a strict vegetarian but I do try to avoid meat. I think a vegetarian diet is the healthiest. And I think if everyone, once in their lives, had to kill, skin, clean and cook an animal, there would be a lot more vegetarians in the world. It makes sense with the population growing and our shrinking natural resources to embrace a vegetarian diet.
Yet I find so many vegetarians to be a pain in the ass. They embrace it like a religion. Rather than make it part of their lifestyle, it is their lifestyle. Within five minutes of meeting them, you know they don't eat meat and that they consider themselves morally superior to anyone who does.
Recently, a family member came to visit me in China. We went to visit a friend of mine and his family in a small village. It was a holiday and the family, being kind and hospitable, went out of their way to prepare vegetarian dishes that she could eat. The guest still picked through every dish with her chopsticks, sniffing and inspecting to make sure no stray pieces of meat had gotten in. It didn't end there. Everywhere we went, she made a point of letting us all know how repulsed she was by meat, criticizing anyone who had views even slightly different from her own. She was the morally superior being, separating herself from the savages. My son hit it closest when he said, "You're like a born again vegetarian."
I try to avoid meat but I make exceptions. If someone welcomes me into their home and invites me to break bread, I break it, even if that means cutting a chicken or a cow. If I wanted to be rigid about it, I would bring my own food. I find that less offensive than expecting someone to accommodate my taste.
Food. It's such a basic need. We have so many hangups about it. The dinner table can be a place to share or a place to separate yourself. Living in China, I see food as a way to intimately experience a new culture. In
I understand that for reasons of health or philosophy, people may need to restrict their diets. But can't it be done with respect? The ascetic and the flamboyant both have their place in this crazy mixed up world. Bring on the tea! Bring on the wine! Eat chocolate or meat. But eat it with joy.
I've been gone from this blog too long. The winter rains are subsiding and the days in Hainan are turning hot and humid. I'm back to night life. Long naps during the hottest part of the afternoon give way to sultry evenings with an ocean breeze. At night the streets look different. They sound different. They smell different. Spicy Sichuan food and good, old bland Hainan stuff blend with sidewalk charcoal barbeque to make a heady aroma.
I don't know if I can live in the US again. Sometimes when you walk away from something, there is just no going back. When I came here I planned to stay for a year. Now that year is turning to two and moving into the third. I can't stay in China forever either, but it's a big world out there. I want to see more of it.
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