Civilized or Ingenuous

In America, we view ourselves as "civilized" and likewise, I think of myself as being a civilized person. I personally believe that in modern society, we should have certain rules and structure in place to make our lives more livable and comfortable.

That being said, sometimes you find yourself in situations where civility might have to take a back seat to primal urges. The classic example is the need to urinate with no bathrooms in sight. I would dare say that most Americans would probably hold their urine as long as they can while searching for the loo until succumbing to nature. This problem is really no problem at all here in China. If one, especially a man has to go, he probably will just head towards the nearest dimly lit corner. Some men are even more brazen and would do this with no peripheral cover into some greenery. Such activities are not just restricted to dark alleys, sometimes you can see this in relatively busy streets in front of women and children. These sights are not even worth a second look from passerbys

Another example is the expulsion of gas. I think we all have had experiences where after a meal, especially a hearty one where one needs to expel some gas. We in the civilized world will either try to belch quietly or swallow one's gas until they are in the company of oneself. Here in China, diners have not qualms about belching during the meal. This is viewed as a natural bodily function and it would not be helpful to suppress it.

In many ways, I understand why we in the civilized society want to take such painstaking care to keep these activities private. However, from another perspective, I find that the attitude of the Chinese toward some of this is quite refreshing. There is no pretension when it comes to such bodily functions. After all it isn't as if you are the only person in the world to have these things happen to your body. So why bother to hide or suppress them?