Hygiene??

My opinion of good hygiene and my exchange students do not sync.

I think you should use soap when you wash your hands and take a shower.  He does not.

I think you should use a Kleenex to blow your nose. He had NEVER — USED ONE BEFORE! I quizzed him about runny noses in China, thinking perhaps they still used handkerchiefs, but no, he’s says not.  According to Bill, speaking on behalf of one billion Chinese citizens, No one uses anything like that. Wow.

The lack of Kleenex knowledge floored me. He comes from a wealthy family, is used to living in the city, and has been in America before. Yet he was perfectly fine with using his hand to wipe his nose like a toddler. In fact, he informed me he has never, in his life, blown his nose….. How is that even possible?

My husband was called upon yet again to explain and demonstrate how bodily functions are taken care of in America.

We noticed that he never smelled very “fresh”, even after bathing. I had an uncomfortable conversation about hygiene one day.

Bill, do you like the shampoo and soap I put in the shower for you?

Ahhhh, yea, it’s ok. I use a little from the tall bottle on my hair.

What about the soap?

Ahhhh, what is soap?

Turns out, he didn’t think he needed it. When I said he definitely did, he informed us he had his own, and didn’t want to share a bar with my daughter. Ok, so now I know  the soap in their shower had never been touched by both people who utilize that bathroom. My daughter would never touch something so basic as a plain bar of soap – she lavishes herself with Lush and Bath & Body Works products by the gallon. Fine. I put a second new, unused bar, in a little travel container for his own personal use, in the shower.  I’ve yet to be convinced the bar is getting any smaller.

This would be the Chinese soap he brought with him. Baby wash. He is a teenager – sweaty, smelly, oily. Seriously. Baby wash.

Hand-washing has become an other point of contention. Turning on the water and getting your fingers wet is not washing your hands. I insisted he use soap, EVERY TIME.  We later discovered he would wash his hands, and then use the toilet. According to him, problem solved…..

Another cleanliness discrepancy is when to bath. Bill thought when he played basketball, came home sweaty and that sweat dried, he was clean.  I did not. He has separate basketballs for indoor and outdoor. He can’t possibly use the indoor ball on the courts outside, and, in fact, keeps it in a grocery bag so it stays clean, yet thinks nothing of sitting his sweaty self on my furniture.

Ok, that may not be a cultural thing. I remember my son getting into the car after flag football and saying the same thing, he was dry now, so he was magically clean.  However, he was 8.  And ps, I made him go directly to the shower, after stripping off the disgusting, sweaty football clothes in the garage.  Same rules apply to all the kids in the house.

Bill doesn’t seem unwilling, just bewildered at our silly American ways. Why should it matter if I wipe my nose on my hand? Why do you care if I don’t wash my hands and then touch food in the kitchen?

He also doesn’t believe in germ theory. I had a small cold recently and he was concerned that my insides and conscience were out of sync.  The idea that coughing and sneezing can spread to other people isn’t something he can conceive.

We will all be getting flu shots this year.