Sorry for leaving my emotional issues staining the top of my blog for so long. Lots of shit has happened, and I'm not going to talk about any of it. Instead, more self-indulgent rambling, yay.
Vietnamese word of the day: ô (umbrella). It looks like a fat man carrying an umbrella. This reminds me of a theory I read, saying that certain words look like the things they represent. This happens a lot in languages like Chinese (duh) but sometimes in English too. For example...bed, eye, poo, llama and vagina. This is a very inane theory and not one it's easy to go far with. It's not even very interesting. I'll stop now.
On the topic of things that are kind of intellectual but leave you feeling more stupid than when you started, I read a PhD thesis today, written by a Vietnamese man called Cuong Manh La. It's called, "How Virginity Enhances Masculinity: An Exploratory Study in Hanoi, Vietnam". It's a detailed study into how in Vietnam, it's ok for men to sleep around, even encouraged, but they would never marry a woman who wasn't a virgin. If they found out she didn't have a hymen, they'd probably beat her up, and she'd probably deserve it, the harlot. I also learnt that the Vietnamese consider the four female virtues to be domestic skills (Công), beauty (Dung), calm speech (Ngôn), and virtuous character (Hạnh). I am not doing very well on these fronts. The corresponding male virtues include making lots of sons, building your own house, and owning a buffalo.
Edit: I wrote this blog in a restaurant while I was having dinner, then walked outside to see this sign opposite:
Vietnamese word of the day: ô (umbrella). It looks like a fat man carrying an umbrella. This reminds me of a theory I read, saying that certain words look like the things they represent. This happens a lot in languages like Chinese (duh) but sometimes in English too. For example...bed, eye, poo, llama and vagina. This is a very inane theory and not one it's easy to go far with. It's not even very interesting. I'll stop now.
On the topic of things that are kind of intellectual but leave you feeling more stupid than when you started, I read a PhD thesis today, written by a Vietnamese man called Cuong Manh La. It's called, "How Virginity Enhances Masculinity: An Exploratory Study in Hanoi, Vietnam". It's a detailed study into how in Vietnam, it's ok for men to sleep around, even encouraged, but they would never marry a woman who wasn't a virgin. If they found out she didn't have a hymen, they'd probably beat her up, and she'd probably deserve it, the harlot. I also learnt that the Vietnamese consider the four female virtues to be domestic skills (Công), beauty (Dung), calm speech (Ngôn), and virtuous character (Hạnh). I am not doing very well on these fronts. The corresponding male virtues include making lots of sons, building your own house, and owning a buffalo.
Edit: I wrote this blog in a restaurant while I was having dinner, then walked outside to see this sign opposite:
Q.E.D.
