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Total entries in this category: 51
Published On: Mar 07, 2006 03:02 PM
Total entries in this category: 51
Published On: Mar 07, 2006 03:02 PM
Show some shin
Now that the weather is warming up in Kunming, I'm
starting to see more bare legs and midriffs. Unfortunately, I'm seeing this
mostly on men.
Men in China rarely wear shorts, which is fine with
me. I don't think hairy, bony shins are the ideal fashion statement. But when it
gets hot, it appears to be perfectly acceptable for a man to tug his pant legs
up to his knees. This generally happens when a man is sitting down waiting for,
or riding on a bus, or eating in a restaurant, or working in an
office.
If it gets really hot, men will also pull up their shirts to cool off their bellies. This effect is familiar to me from East Cambridge where it is known as a "haff shirt." But unlike the townies showing off their washboard abs, in Kunming, you're much more likely to see paunches.
I would be way too self conscious to try this myself. I think about it every time I roll up my shirt sleeves, though, because I am realizing that in Kunming, men almost never roll up their shirt sleeves. Pants yes; shirts no. It's getting to the point where I am embarrassed to go out with my forearms exposed, imagining that the shock to my neighbors is equivalent to what I feel seeing the rolled up pants.
I like to think I'm an open-minded guy, aware that cultural differences are arbitrary and meaningless. But this one is hard to adjust to.
If it gets really hot, men will also pull up their shirts to cool off their bellies. This effect is familiar to me from East Cambridge where it is known as a "haff shirt." But unlike the townies showing off their washboard abs, in Kunming, you're much more likely to see paunches.
I would be way too self conscious to try this myself. I think about it every time I roll up my shirt sleeves, though, because I am realizing that in Kunming, men almost never roll up their shirt sleeves. Pants yes; shirts no. It's getting to the point where I am embarrassed to go out with my forearms exposed, imagining that the shock to my neighbors is equivalent to what I feel seeing the rolled up pants.
I like to think I'm an open-minded guy, aware that cultural differences are arbitrary and meaningless. But this one is hard to adjust to.
Posted: Mon - March 29, 2004 at 10:08 PM