-After saying hello, the next question is always, "Have you eaten yet?"
-Ask you how much money you spent on everything you own.
-Show up at your door with a bunch of eggs or mangoes, just because.
-Make peace signs in every photograph.
-Tell you that their unborn child is going to be a boy and a doctor.
-Are terrified of ghosts.
-Hold hands or link arms while walking with their friends.
-Think sunglasses are only for people who are blind or a superstar.
-When it's 78 degrees, they wear pants, socks, a turtleneck, sweater, coat, and mittens. Then, they ask, "Aren't you cold?"
-Cover their mouth with their hand while talking.
-Ask you how much you weigh.
-Point out when you have gained weight.
-Ask you your age.
-Ask how much money you earn.
-Give out your phone number to people you were introduced to once.
-Try to befriend everyone on Facebook.
-Think white skin and long noses are beautiful.
-Refuse to wear a bathing suit.
-Are scared to swim in the ocean.
-Drive a moto with up to 6 passengers.
-Sleep on beds without mattresses.
-Think toilet paper is weird.
-Wear pajamas as day clothes.
-Wash hands, bathe, and wash dishes without soap.
-Throw all their trash on the ground when there is a trash bin one foot away.
-Drop word endings with words like: ice, price, house, lunch, etc.
-Continuously, keep your glass full to the brim with "i."
-Immediately, offer you are chair if you are expected to stand in a store or house for more than 10 seconds - because white people are extremely fragile.
-Bring uninvited guests to parties.
-Eat rice with every single meal.
-Refuse to mix rice with the rest of the meal in their bowl. Then, see nothing unhygienic with repeatedly dipping their spoon into the communal soup bowl.
-Make piles of fish bones and uneaten meat on the table beside their plate.
-Prefer really, really bland food.
-Pickle everything.
-Think yogurt, milk, cheese, and French Fries are disgusting.
-Serve you fish after you tell them you're a vegetarian (because fish is not really meat.)
-Eat an entire meal before drinking any water.
-Grow their fingernails really long and pointy - men included.
-Think feet are the dirtiest part of the body and hide the bottoms of them. (Meanwhile, they walk around barefoot half the time.)
-Believe coconut juice as a cure for every ailment.
-Hand you unlabeled pills when you are ill and give instructions on how to take them.
-Offer advice, all the time, on every subject, most of which are old "wives tales."
-Say, "Oh my God!
-Give terrible massages.
-Always share what little they have.
-Are the most kind, generous, and lovely people I've met on the planet.
-Ask you how much money you spent on everything you own.
-Show up at your door with a bunch of eggs or mangoes, just because.
-Make peace signs in every photograph.
-Tell you that their unborn child is going to be a boy and a doctor.
-Are terrified of ghosts.
-Hold hands or link arms while walking with their friends.
-Think sunglasses are only for people who are blind or a superstar.
-When it's 78 degrees, they wear pants, socks, a turtleneck, sweater, coat, and mittens. Then, they ask, "Aren't you cold?"
-Cover their mouth with their hand while talking.
-Ask you how much you weigh.
-Point out when you have gained weight.
-Ask you your age.
-Ask how much money you earn.
-Give out your phone number to people you were introduced to once.
-Try to befriend everyone on Facebook.
-Think white skin and long noses are beautiful.
-Refuse to wear a bathing suit.
-Are scared to swim in the ocean.
-Drive a moto with up to 6 passengers.
-Sleep on beds without mattresses.
-Think toilet paper is weird.
-Wear pajamas as day clothes.
-Wash hands, bathe, and wash dishes without soap.
-Throw all their trash on the ground when there is a trash bin one foot away.
-Drop word endings with words like: ice, price, house, lunch, etc.
-Continuously, keep your glass full to the brim with "i."
-Immediately, offer you are chair if you are expected to stand in a store or house for more than 10 seconds - because white people are extremely fragile.
-Bring uninvited guests to parties.
-Eat rice with every single meal.
-Refuse to mix rice with the rest of the meal in their bowl. Then, see nothing unhygienic with repeatedly dipping their spoon into the communal soup bowl.
-Make piles of fish bones and uneaten meat on the table beside their plate.
-Prefer really, really bland food.
-Pickle everything.
-Think yogurt, milk, cheese, and French Fries are disgusting.
-Serve you fish after you tell them you're a vegetarian (because fish is not really meat.)
-Eat an entire meal before drinking any water.
-Grow their fingernails really long and pointy - men included.
-Think feet are the dirtiest part of the body and hide the bottoms of them. (Meanwhile, they walk around barefoot half the time.)
-Believe coconut juice as a cure for every ailment.
-Hand you unlabeled pills when you are ill and give instructions on how to take them.
-Offer advice, all the time, on every subject, most of which are old "wives tales."
-Say, "Oh my God!
-Give terrible massages.
-Always share what little they have.
-Are the most kind, generous, and lovely people I've met on the planet.
That is a wonderful blog entry, Kerri!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I started making this list months ago and finally decided that I had sufficiently condensed Cambodian culture into 45 bullet points.
ReplyDelete