Bill recently got sick. He thought it was due to the fact the he exerted himself for two hours while doing his volunteer work. (His school requires 25 hours of community service hours per year). I was pretty sure an upset stomach and 103 degree fever was the result of a virus, but you never know. Personally, I don’t like to exert myself either….
I know how it feels to be sick in a strange place, and felt bad for him. I made him take Tylenol instead of the Chinese powder he brought with him for the fever. He didn’t question me, but did check with his uncle in China, who approved of my doctoring skills. I have managed to keep three children of my own alive for 21 years!
Everyone likes something special when they are sick, and Bill was no exception. He asked me to boil already cooked rice in a lot of water, to form a gruel of sorts. With a sick stomach, soft things always make you feel better, and I was glad to help him in this way.
As I was leaving to go to the store the next day, I asked if there was anything else he would like.
Chinese pickles. Odd choice for an upset stomach……
I was running to Trader Joe’s, not Chinatown.
I told him we could get some when his stomach settled down, but while he was throwing up, soft foods were a better choice.
The next day, he was feeling better and marched down to the kitchen and demanded, I want noodles.
I gently reminded him that please and thank you are the polite way of asking for things. I felt like I should have received an award for my patience, but justified his attitude as a result of his illness. My husband disagreed with me.
When I showed him the type of noodles I had, he got mad. Apparently, unless they are long (spaghetti-type) they don’t count. My husband explained that pasta is all basically the same, just different shapes and Bill got very angry, yelled that’s not what we have in China, and marched back upstairs.
My husband was all for giving him nothing until he asked politely, but I felt bad. I made the pasta shells, took them up to his room and left them. He brought the empty bowl down later, without comment.
We had yet another conversation with him about manners, not yelling and demanding when he wanted something, and how this isn’t China. I am all for making him comfortable, but more and more, we are seeing that he would rather have us behave more Chinese-like, as opposed to him assimilating to American ways.
The next day, our neighbor, who is half Chinese, gave me some unopened Chinese noodles she purchased for her son. She also said that Bill’s behavior was very un-Chinese-like, and more spoiled rich-kid…..Which is what we thought.
When I showed the noodles to Bill, he examined the packaging, which was written in Chinese, the handed them back to me.
These are no good.
I had no response.
We took him to a Chinese restaurant that night. He ate an enormous bowl of noodles. The rest of us had a lovely dinner, and left the restaurant full and satisfied.
He said it was just ok. Not like in China.
Ahhhhhhhhh.