My mom’s been visiting me for the past couple of weeks, and is getting ready to head back to Minnesota tomorrow. Unfortunately, yesterday and today she hasn’t been felling well. Or, as she says, she’s feeling "not quite." Stomach stuff. Nothing serious– just, shall we say, more frequent trips to the loo are needed. This morning I took her to my office to say goodbye to folks there, and of course everyone was concerned about her having to travel across the Pacific Ocean tomorrow while feeling "not quite." There was no shortage of suggested remedies as well. All she wanted was some Pepto-bismol, but my boss (an American) convinced her that what she needed was a bowl of hot and sour soup. He swears by the stuff, says that no matter what ails him, a bowl of hot and sour soup will take care of it. It’s not too surprising really, since the base of hot and sour soup is vinegar, and Chinese are convinced that vinegar prevents and cures all manner of diseases. If there’s a health scare of any kind here, the first items to fly off the supermarket shelves are bottles of vinegar.
Well, she ate two bowls of hot and sour soup for lunch and is feeling much better. Unfortunately, she took two Pepto-bismol tablets at the same time, so we’ll never know if it’s the soup or the PB tablets that are doing the trick! Never mind. She’s discovered that she loves hot and sour soup, and wants to find a good Chinese restaurant at home where she can get some.