GeneH
Stainless
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2006
- Location
- Pennsylvania
I had heard the term "Eat Bitter" bandied about for years. I decided to talk to my Chinese born coworker about it.
Took a while because the idea was hard to convey in English. When I wrote it down he started chuckling and said, "Yes! Yes! Eat Bitter!"
Apparently Chinese medicines are bitter tasting. If you want to feel better you have to eat bitter medicine.
The term has a deeper meaning. Children are told by their parents to "Eat Bitter", to work hard and grow strong.
He said, "Eat Bitter" means "Work Hard".
My coworker than told me about how some kids will take their hair, tie it to a rope and then tie the rope to a beam. "That way when they fall asleep studying the pain in their hair will wake them up".
Other kids will prick their fingers with needles, hoping that the pain keeps them awake, so that they can study.
He said something about "Tieing the hair to a beam" and "Pricking the fingers" as expressions of one's devotion to better themselves, work hard and make a better future for oneself.
In the past one studied hard to take a test so that one could join the Goverment as a Mandarin. Today kids still study hard, some go on to "Good Jobs" as my coworker put it.
There are three hundred million Chinese who work in high tech jobs, in industry or who do business in China. As many as there are Americans in the US. I wonder how many of them "Ate Bitter"?
Gene
Took a while because the idea was hard to convey in English. When I wrote it down he started chuckling and said, "Yes! Yes! Eat Bitter!"
Apparently Chinese medicines are bitter tasting. If you want to feel better you have to eat bitter medicine.
The term has a deeper meaning. Children are told by their parents to "Eat Bitter", to work hard and grow strong.
He said, "Eat Bitter" means "Work Hard".
My coworker than told me about how some kids will take their hair, tie it to a rope and then tie the rope to a beam. "That way when they fall asleep studying the pain in their hair will wake them up".
Other kids will prick their fingers with needles, hoping that the pain keeps them awake, so that they can study.
He said something about "Tieing the hair to a beam" and "Pricking the fingers" as expressions of one's devotion to better themselves, work hard and make a better future for oneself.
In the past one studied hard to take a test so that one could join the Goverment as a Mandarin. Today kids still study hard, some go on to "Good Jobs" as my coworker put it.
There are three hundred million Chinese who work in high tech jobs, in industry or who do business in China. As many as there are Americans in the US. I wonder how many of them "Ate Bitter"?
Gene