10/23/25 - Everyone has been woken up by boiling water, burnt by boiling water, and still have to live with those open wounds.
“How much more expensive is it to have your period in China versus Europe?
My second year in the Netherlands. I’ve experienced some things that’s broken my feminist goggles for Western Europe, or at least for the Netherlands. My overall feeling is that as far as policy and rules go, they’re a lot better than China. Society consensus is more progressive too. But it’s hard to say when it comes to women’s consciousness of misogyny. The general gender environment in Western Europe is like boiling a frog in warm water. Things are so bad in China that a lot of women have been woken up by boiling water, so feminist thought is more prevalent.
But there is one point where Europe really does better. It’s a lot cheaper to have my period in the Netherland and Germany than in China. Before, I would wait until a promotional event like Double Eleven or 618 [11th of November or 18th of June, two major e-commerce holidays in China], I have to hoard tampons, and each time, it would cost me 200+. Tampons only cost half as much in the Netherlands, and it’s even cheaper considering local income and cost of living. And lots of bathrooms inside schools have free pads and tampons.
I always thought it was ridiculous to put such a heavy burden of hygiene expenses women for their basic biological functions. This semester, our group project is “Menstrual Exclusion”. I looked it up and learned that China categorises pads as a “non-necessity” and levies a 13% sales tax on them. Britain cancelled the tampon tax a couple of years ago, and the Netherlands, Germany, and France only charge 6-7%.
When I was in school, I’d choose cheaper brands like Whisper, and I learned from my cousin to pad it with paper when I have heavy flow so I change my pads less. Now that I think back, that’s a good way to cause bacterial growth. Once I started working, I mostly used Japanese brands. It’s more comfortable. Now that I’m in the Netherlands, I don’t really care which brand I use. The monitoring system for hygiene products is much stricter here, and I feel safe using even cheap stuff.
I remember back when I would take business trips into the mountains and had to buy unheard of brands of pads in the local convenience stores, and those materials literally felt like plastic bags. I want to know if there’s a way to save money on your period in China. I can’t imagine how much girls who are financially struggling have to squeeze their own health.”
Comments say, “Here’s the free pads in Scotland. The box is always full, and it’s in every bathroom.”
“I don’t know if anyone else has had “burning pimples” down there, like the ones you get during an inflammation. I used to get them all the time and I thought I had some gynaecological issue. Went to the doctor, and all they told me was that it had to do with how tight my pants were and stress, so I didn’t pay it any mind. It wasn’t until end of last year, with the menstrual pad incident [where major brands of menstrual pads were exposed for using improperly recycled, contaminated cotton to make their pads], I stopped using pads and started using rewashable versions or menstrual cups. After half a year, the burning pimples all went away. That’s when I had a feeling that it had something to do with the pads. A little while ago, I talked about it with my mom, and she was embarrassed to admit that she used to get them when she was young too. It only got better once menopause hit and she stopped using pads. I looked it up on Rednote and learned a lot of people went through the same thing, and it didn’t get any better after the menstrual pad incident. So forget the price, even basic safety issues are still a problem in China. Everyone has been woken up by boiling water, burnt by boiling water, and still have to live with those open wounds.”
“If it’s so much nicer overseas, then just go live there.”
#Doctors warn that just because you didn’t used to be allergic does not mean you are safe. “Doctor! Doctor! Save him please! He can’t breathe!” Late at night, with the urgent cries of family, a pale, sweating man who was red all over and couldn’t breathe was brought to a hospital in Laibin, Guangxi by ambulance. Questioning revealed that this patient had some stir-fried longyanji (龙眼鸡, a pest that sucks tree juice). He only ate 8 of them, and began displaying severe allergic symptoms soon after. Thankfully, after rescue efforts by the hospital, the patient’s indicators have returned to normal and he is no longer in any danger. We learned that this is the third case of allergic shock caused by eating longyanji in the last week.”
Comments say, “Guangxi will eat anything.”
“That doesn’t look like something edible.”
“There’s no way you can eat something that colour.”
“How did God even make a creature as energy efficient as humans? You have to walk an entire kilometre to burn 50 calories, and a single fried chicken cutlet is 500 calories. I climbed slopes until I was on the verge of throwing up, and I only burned 400 calories. I’d get it back if I ate a single slice of cake. Why are my intestines so good at absorbing nutrients? Why is my body more frugal than my parents?”
Comments say, “You need to migrate, patrol, chase, attack, get injured, and return home in order to obtain a chicken cutlet, not walk downstairs, pay, and come home. Kid, the developers never planned for the way you live your life.”
“God’s design: eating a chicken cutlet equals “Go Outside Every Day and Find a While Chicken”, “Capture Wild Chicken”, “Grow Crops that Produce Oil”, “Squeeze Oil and Preserve It”, “Plant Wheat”, “Harvest Wheat”, “Light Fire and Cook”. And the energy that all of that burns can be restored by eating the chicken breast. But modern day humans just see something while shopping, pay, and eat.”
“The brain is the most energy-intensive organ, so if you want to diet, you should be doing calculus while doing cardio.”
“I honestly think that intellectual labour burns though more energy than physical labour. When I was in 12th grade, I had just secretly eaten a big bowl of instant noodles and felt I couldn’t take another bite. After a physics lesson and a maths lesson back to back, I was starving again.”
“It’s true. I ate four meals every day in high school, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late night snack. Since I got into college, I’ve never experienced starving half to death after half a day of lessons.”
“When you want to diet, your intestines be like, “That shit still has some nutrition in it, let me suck on it more.””
“If you could burn 499 calories by taking two steps and burn 300 calories just getting out of bed, then there’s no way for poor people to survive. You’d have to eat so much energy intense food just to stay alive. Our bodies are on the same side as us.”
A discussion on how romantic Italians are:
“My three-year-old daughter lost a shoe. The hot waiter found it and brought it over and helped her put it on, and went, “I found you, Cinderella.””
“I asked a waiter in Venice what dessert he recommended, and he answered, “Me.””
“On our way back to the hotel, a couple of kids were playing around, and one of them fell down right next to me. I picked up him and helped him onto his feet, and he told me, “I fell over on purpose so you’d hug me.””
“An Italian international student sat next to me in class before, and he’d ask me how to do something, and I’d just simply show him, and he’d immediately use his shoddy Chinese to tell me that I am like a Goddess that brings him light. Of course, as a super introvert, I would always quickly leave in silence as everyone expected.”
“I wanted to drink water in the middle of the night and I asked my boyfriend if he wanted any. Still sleepy, he said he wanted sparkling water. I said we didn’t have any, and he insisted in sparkling water, and I got angry and demanded, “Do you also want the stars in the sky?” And still with his eyes closed and half asleep, my boyfriend went, “You’re my star.” And I couldn’t be angry anymore.”
“I was buying postcards in the Borghese Gallery and asked if I could get an extra bag, and the uncle told me, “For you? Everything.”
“My best friend’s Italian classmate told her that they have to learn how to provide emotional value to girls from a young age, or else their dad’s will look down on them.”
“We were eating at an Italian restaurant and there was a little problem at our table that required a water, so I went to call an Italian waiter over like, “Could you please follow me this way?” And the hot guy smiled gently like the moon in a pond surrounded by narcissus and went, “I’ll go anywhere in the world with you.””
“It’s so normal. I had a friend who was tired of walking in Rome and sat down on some stairs. All of a sudden, a police car stopped by, probably because there was nothing else going on, and the cop walked over to her, knelt down on one knee, and asked, “Why are you so tired, angel?” And then drove her to school in his police car.”
“Italian men have maxed out this skill. When I was in college, I was taking a flight to Heathrow and fell asleep. An Italian hair steward put a free blanket over me and accidently woke me up. He was so startled that he went, “I heard that Chinese people are all very reserved, so I was afraid to show my love for you.” That’s so powerful.”
“This local pizza place we go to all the time is opened by an Italian grandpa. Half way through our meal, the grandpa would always hide behind the potted plant behind the table and poke his head out and ask us if it was good in this super adorable way. We’d all say it was great, and he’d get really happy and call us sweetheart and gift us snacks and drinks. One time, I told him, “Of course it’s great. I’ve been coming here from high school to middle age. It’s bound to be delicious.” And he was like, “Oh, my princes, it’s the greatest honour of my life to make pizza for you.” And he kissed the back of my hand and even danced a little jig for me. This grandpa has been staying in China for at least 20 years and he never changed.”