不如见一面——情人节，说情事

      Not that I got any romance to share, just an observation:

      It appears to me, I could be wrong, that the way couples/lovers get along is quite different, at least between the two cultural backgrounds, the east and the west.

      For instance, most American couples pay respect to each other. They might understand better the bottomline to maintain a healthy marrige for a lifetime is mutual respect, i.e., respect each other the way the relationship started at the very beginning. In case a divorce occurred in the middle of somewhere, they would probably remain good friends. There are many examples around, such as colleagues, neighbors, friends, etc. From a personal perspective, the most direct and convincing ones: my son & daughter-in-law, as well as my daughter-in-law’s parents.

      Chinese couples, on the other hand, are hard to describe how they get along. There are differences between the old and the new generations, though. Generally speaking, Chinese couples believe they possess each other, a cultural heritage? I don’t know. "You are my husband/You are my wife, what the hell with you (你是我老公/你是我老婆，你想怎么着”)? I can give you countless examples of this kind, from the ones around or out of reach.

      A song caught my attention, and that is how I got to share the above observation.

      Happy Valentine’s Day, folks!

 

      不是说自己有什么浪漫要分享，仅是一点观察：

      总感觉夫妇或者说情人之间的相处之道，起码在中美两种文化背景下，有较大不同。

      美国夫妇是相互尊重。若是长相守，则相敬如宾；若最终成半路夫妻，多半也是好朋友。身边有许多例子，比如同事、近邻、朋友等等。最直接的观察来自于儿子儿媳，还有亲家夫妇。

      中国夫妇则一言难尽，老一代和新一代之间，也有较大差异。总体来看，中国夫妇是相互拥有，“你是我老公/你是我老婆，你想怎么着？”这种例子，无论身边还是八杆子打不着，都不胜枚举。

      听听这首歌，或许有些启发。

[盈盈一笑间]

文学城首页推荐成功。谢谢朱师好文章。期待在美坛看见更多佳作。