Weekly Mandarin: 38

38th edition: Heh

Someone must have proven that the standard Taiwanese stomach is 864 cubic centimeters. Because that is the size of every portable lunch that is sold in Taiwan. You buy lunch (or many dinners) in these little cardboard boxes that are ALL the same size.

Many places of business have a restaurant that always makes their office lunchboxes, and everyone gets lunch delivered from the same place, which means that everyone gets the same lunch. And no one gets to pick their lunch. This is what happened all summer. And why I started exploring vegetarianism.

But, the great thing is that sometimes you can get your own box at a buffet, and fill it with anything you want. This is how I had the most delicious lunchbox ever. It was filled with: vegetarian fried rice, asparagus, broccoli, green beans, and tofu nuggets. I was seriously in lunch box heaven: it was all green, and I didn't have to wonder what anything in it was made out of! And, it was SO tasty.

So this week's word is "heh", or "box."