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"Have you eaten yet?" the Chinese greet one another. "Yes, I have," they answer whether they have or not."And you?" I would live on plastic.
 
by Maxine Hong Kingston
from "Catfish in the Bathtub"

Explanation of the Quote

Chinese greet one another by asking, "Have you eaten yet?" Americans or English people greet one another by asking, "How are you?" The different ways of greeting point to a big difference between the two cultures: One people regards food as the primary want and loathes hunger whereas the other values health. In this quote, Maxine Hong Kingston, a Chinese American, expresses the Chinese value and at the same time implies that she had little desire for Chinese food due to the weird associations she had had since childhood.

中國人見面時,彼此打招呼說:『吃飽了沒?』英國獲美國人見面時,彼此問候:『你好嗎?』這兩種不同的問候語,顯示中外文化的差異。中國人關心肚皮,以食為天;西方人則認為健康重於一切。作者 Maxine Hong Kingston 是一位中國裔美國人,由於自小父母給她的奇怪聯想,使她對中國食物有些敬謝不敏 ,這個引句中,正是她暗示她對中國食物的態度。

 
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