"Have A Rest"

Resting is extremely important in Chinese culture. There is a standard two hour break everyday for lunch and resting. It's kinda of awesome, until I want to get something done during those two hours, and then it's frustrating. (Spoken like a true Westerner.) I recently did a lesson with my students about sickness and gave them a list of ailments to provide remedies for. Almost all of them included the advice to "have a rest." I have gotten notes from students explaining that they missed class because they needed to have a rest. It's a very cultural thing that every day, you should rest.

In fact, here is how prevalent it is: at the hot springs we went to yesterday, the building had two large, dark rooms filled with oversize recliners and foot rests, pillows, down blankets, and a small flat screen tv for each chair. At any time during the day, you could come in from the spa pools and "have a rest." It was awesome!  The dressing room attendant gave you a plastic bag for your wet bathing suit, gave you some dry spa clothes to wear, and you could eat fresh fruit and have a rest before heading back to the spa pools. No extra charge. I slept for about a half an hour after lunch, then went back outside. And that was very "Western" of me, most people stayed longer. Most offices I've seen have a long couch for sleeping, and our teacher's room couch is always occupied during lunch. So even if you work away from home, you can still have a nap at work.

I am going to come back to America and feel like my hour lunch break is very, very short! And I am going to want a place to take a nap when I am out all day working/playing.