Eric's Beijing Diary

Had dinner with Michael and his neighbor, who is a doctor, out at Fragrant Hills this evening. I was glad that Michael brought his neighbor, because the medical report I got back recently from the physical exam the Software College faculty had last spring says that I have a problem with liver fat. Before I got this report, I had never heard of liver fat, but since I got this report I have been talking to people about it, and everyone in China seems to be quite familiar with this condition. Wonder what that means? Anyway, the young doctor was quite helpful. He encouraged me to eat more vegetables. I think he might be a vegetarian. I said, "If you are going to be a vegetarian, you need to be careful about balancing your amino acids, right?" I'll tell you where that question came from. I went to college in the Seventies, and the vegetarian types I knew did not impress me as being people of robust health. I like vegetables. I'm one of those people who ate veggie burgers at the health food store because I liked the taste of them. But I never bought into the idea that man was not created to be carnivorous, that meat is evil, or that apple seeds cure schizophrenia. The doctor didn't know this, of course, but he understood my concern. "I know you are concerned about your proteins," he said, "but in your case, you could be a vegetarian for three months without having to worry about it." I guess that was a compliment. Anyway, it did motivate me to learn more about Chinese vegetables.