Even in the States, I took pride in my chopstick-ing ability.
So you could imagine how I feel when native chopstick users are impressed by my skills.
I guess they don't realize how big a deal Panda Express is in the U.S.
As many times I've had people comment on my chopstick use (like... 3?) I've had people here comment on me being left handed.
(yeah, so it's not really that often. I needed writing material. Just try to follow...)
The other day, one of the teachers at the school - Dr. Brio, who studied in America for 7 years and enjoys Grey's Anatomy and House - commented on my left-handedness.
She said that here in the Chinese culture of Taiwan, children who are prone to be left-handed are taught that it is wrong. That it's not good to stick out that way. They are forced to trade their natural tendency for an unnatural one. No matter how loud their mind tells them they're structured otherwise.
Even the ambidextrous are left without a choice.
In Western Culture, Left-handedness has its own culture. We even have books and websites that cry "Oppression!" and demand that we're treated equally and get our own Scissors and stuff like that.
It's mostly tongue-in-cheek, because in America, and the like, no one is actually out to get Left-handed people. We accept that
And that in 2007, Scientists found the gene linked to left-handed tendencies. (LRRTM1, to be exact.)
Here in America, it's more about people wanting something to rant about then it is actual oppression.
But for others, it's a reality.
Everything in their brain says, "reach for the chopsticks with your left hand"
Yet family, culture, pressure amongst peers all say "You're wrong."
I can't imagine the weight of having to choose between Socially Correctness and an Autonomous Orientation.
So you could imagine how I feel when native chopstick users are impressed by my skills.
I guess they don't realize how big a deal Panda Express is in the U.S.
As many times I've had people comment on my chopstick use (like... 3?) I've had people here comment on me being left handed.
(yeah, so it's not really that often. I needed writing material. Just try to follow...)
The other day, one of the teachers at the school - Dr. Brio, who studied in America for 7 years and enjoys Grey's Anatomy and House - commented on my left-handedness.
She said that here in the Chinese culture of Taiwan, children who are prone to be left-handed are taught that it is wrong. That it's not good to stick out that way. They are forced to trade their natural tendency for an unnatural one. No matter how loud their mind tells them they're structured otherwise.
Even the ambidextrous are left without a choice.
In Western Culture, Left-handedness has its own culture. We even have books and websites that cry "Oppression!" and demand that we're treated equally and get our own Scissors and stuff like that.
It's mostly tongue-in-cheek, because in America, and the like, no one is actually out to get Left-handed people. We accept that
"Hand orientation is developed in unborn children, most commonly determined by observing which hand is predominantly licked or held close to the mouth." (cited here)
And that in 2007, Scientists found the gene linked to left-handed tendencies. (LRRTM1, to be exact.)
Here in America, it's more about people wanting something to rant about then it is actual oppression.
But for others, it's a reality.
Everything in their brain says, "reach for the chopsticks with your left hand"
Yet family, culture, pressure amongst peers all say "You're wrong."
I can't imagine the weight of having to choose between Socially Correctness and an Autonomous Orientation.
1 comment:
Yeah! And don't forget Flander's Leftorium store! Love your blog.
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