What Gary Chapman would say....

If all the people of China could sit down with Gary Chapman for a little one on 1.4 billion conversation, I think Gary would quickly observe that their two main love languages are gifts and physical touch.

If you have ever lived here, or have read someone else's blog who lives here you probably at some point have noticed that gifts are bound to be mentioned. The Chinese give gifts for every major holiday (Dragon Boat festival is June 6th, so my teacher gave me sticky rice - which is the gift that you give for this holiday). They also give gifts for birthdays, when you visit someone's house, and other special occasions (like when I left the country last time, I received a lot of gifts). Sometimes you'll receive a gift randomly, like Aaron did this week.

Both Aaron and I received gifts this week - Asian Kate gave me that shirt for my birthday.....and Aaron's teacher gave him a recorder. We're really not sure about that one. It was out of the blue. And it's a recorder. This gift led to an impromptu jam session and playing the game "name that song."

There is an etiquette to gift giving here - like you should give a gift back when someone gives you one on a holiday. You should also probably refuse the gift a few times (although recognizing you're foreign, they'll show you grace if you don't) and expect any gift you give to be denied a few times before being accepted.

sending you a sexy recorder gram

The other thing that is pretty common here is holding hands, hugging, leaning on each other, close physical contact between people of the same sex. It is completely normal to see two girls walking down the street holding hands, or to see two guys walking with their arms on each others shoulders.....I have seen a couple holding hands, while the girl also held hands with one of her friends.

As an American, it can be hard to get used to - when your friend trying to protect you, links arms with you and pulls you close, under her umbrella (protecting you from sun, not rain).

I think probably another love language of theirs that Gary missed is giving unsolicited advice.....but we can talk about that another day, like eventually when I have kids - because that apparently is when you get the most advice.