Bonus Post - May 27, Beijing: What’s a Cousin? Stories That I Had Forgotten Until Now

I'm going to be posting twice today. Double-issue! Actually, just a couple things that got through the haze of my crowded memory.

I forgot to add two stories made during my first day in Beijing. Firstly, unlike any large city that I have ever visited – including US cities – Beijing is the most patient city, traffic-wise in the world. No one speeds, and there isn’t too much traffic despite aggressive cars and a horrific subway system (again being overhauled before the games in ’08). In fact, some taxi drivers have been insulted when I have tried to put my seat belt on upon entering the taxi; today a driver asked me not to put the belt on, because of his personal confidence in being a safe driver.

The second story from our first day in Beijing sheds even more light on life for people my age in Beijing. While we were at the bar two nights ago, I mentioned to Jenny (Chris’ friend) something about one of my siblings, and received a jaw-dropping look. "You have a sister?" she asked. When I replied that I did, along with two brothers, the jaw dropped even further. As I was explaining a bit about my large family, I used the word cousin to describe the number of relatives I have. Jenny looked at me, seriously, and asked, "what's a cousin?"

I explained that it was the English word for the children of my parents' siblings. I then made a small faux pas when I asked Jenny about her family:

"Do you have any brothers and sisters?"

She blushed, and I realized that she was going to have to explain the one child policy - what an idiot I am, I thought.

Jenny paused, thoughtfully, and then said, "you remember now the child policy of China? Well, in one generation, no one our age will know what a cousin is. They won't just not know the word for cousin, like I didn't, but they won't even know the concept."

Incredible.