BEIJING -- My reading teacher entered the classroom this afternoon and shot me an astonished look.
"Su Bin, aren't you cold?" she said.
"No, why?"
"Your feet. You're wearing 踢鞋."
"What?"
I didn't understand the last word, but I'm trying to communicate with my teachers only in Chinese. Instead of asking her the English word, I went for my bright yellow Chinese-English dictionary. After a minute, I found the right entry: sandals.
Even though Beijing's in the middle of a cold snap, I wore sandals with my jeans and light grey sweater today. I did it because I have no clean socks, and didn't expect anyone to notice. But nothing escapes the watchful eyes of Brown.
"You're going to get sick," she said.
"Why?"
"Chinese people say, 'If your feet are cold, then you will get a cold.'"
Strange. In America, we associate a cold head with sickness. I guess in China it's the other way around. I'm glad I wore sandals, even only to find out a Chinese taboo.
