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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 2017)
OPINION Page 6 n THE ASIAN REPORTER July 3, 2017 Volume 27 Number 13 July 3, 2017 ISSN: 1094-9453 The Asian Reporter is published on the first and third Monday each month. Please send all correspondence to: The Asian Reporter 922 N Killingsworth Street, Suite 2D, Portland, OR 97217 Phone: (503) 283-4440, Fax: (503) 283-4445 News Department e-mail: news@asianreporter.com Advertising Department e-mail: ads@asianreporter.com General e-mail: info@asianreporter.com Website: www.asianreporter.com Please send reader feedback, Asian-related press releases, and community interest ideas/stories to the addresses listed above. Please include a contact phone number. Advertising information available upon request. Publisher Jaime Lim Contributing Editors Ronault L.S. Catalani (Polo), Jeff Wenger Correspondents Ian Blazina, Josephine Bridges, Pamela Ellgen, Maileen Hamto, Edward J. Han, A.P. Kryza, Marie Lo, Simeon Mamaril, Julie Stegeman, Toni Tabora-Roberts, Allison Voigts Illustrator Jonathan Hill News Service Associated Press/Newsfinder Copyright 2017. Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication. Member Associated Press/Newsfinder Asian American Journalists Association Better Business Bureau Pacific Northwest Minority Publishers (PNMP) Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon MY TURN n Wayne Chan There is such a thing as MSG withdrawal Correspondence: The Asian Reporter welcomes reader response and participation. Please send all correspondence to: Mail: 922 N Killingsworth Street, Suite 2D, Portland, OR 97217-2220 Phone: (503) 283-4440 ** Fax: (503) 283-4445 News Department e-mail: news@asianreporter.com General e-mail: info@asianreporter.com SUBSCRIPTION RATES (U.S. rates only) Individual subscription (sent bulk rate): q Half year: $14 q Full year: $24 q Two years: $40 Individual subscription (sent first class mail): q Half year: $24 q Full year: $40 q Two years: $72 Office subscription (5 copies to one address): q Half year: $40 q Full year: $75 q Two years: $145 Institutional subscription (25 copies to one address): q Half year: $100 q Full year: $180 q Two years: $280 NEW SUBSCRIBER / ADDRESS CORRECTION INFORMATION FORM: Subscriber’s name: Company name: Address: City, State, ZIP: Phone: Fax: E-mail: Mail with payment or Fax with credit card information to: The Asian Reporter, Attn: Subscription Dept., 922 N Killingsworth Street, Suite 2D, Portland, OR 97217-2220 Phone: (503) 283-4440 * Fax: (503) 283-4445 q q q For VISA, Mastercard, or American Express payment only: Name (as it appears on the card): Type of card (circle): VISA Mastercard Card number: American Express Security code: Expiration date: Address of card: The last four issues of The Asian Reporter are available for pick up free at our office 24 hours a day at 922 N Killingsworth Street, Suite 2D, Portland, Oregon. Back issues of The Asian Reporter may be ordered by mail at the following rates: First copy: $1.50 Additional copies ordered at the same time: $1.00 each Send orders to: Asian Reporter Back Issues, 922 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, OR 97217-2220 The Asian Reporter welcomes reader response and participation. If you have a comment on a story we have printed, or have an Asian-related personal or community focus idea, please contact us. Please include a contact name, address, and phone number on all correspondence. Thank you. ’ve heard that the symptoms of withdrawal can be dramatic, but it’s only recently that I witnessed the effects in person. Just to be sure, I searched online to better understand some of the symptoms. The typical signs I found were depression, insomnia, irritability, social isolation, and anxiety. Did these match up with what I noticed? Let me see … check, check, check, check, and check. Let me provide a little background. The person I observed going through withdrawal was my brother-in-law Remington, who travelled from Beijing to the United States to attend a training course. The withdrawal he suffered wasn’t due to what people normally associate with withdrawal. No, it was Chinese food. You might say, “That’s ridiculous! How can anyone go through withdrawal just from a lack of eating Chinese food?” Look, I agree with you. But, the fact of the matter is, I saw it with my own eyes. The first couple of days after Remington arrived were easy. In fact, he didn’t even want Chinese food. After all, he lives in Beijing. Why on earth after flying 14 hours would he want to eat Chinese food? When we asked him what kind of cuisine he wanted to try while he was here, his eyes lit up and he said “Mexican!” We proceeded to a place teeming with Mariachis, overflowing bowls of chips and salsa, and a seemingly endless supply of refried beans. Now, before anyone starts schooling me on the fact that it isn’t really “authentic” Mexican food, in my defense, number one, I knew that’s what he was looking for, and number two, we can save that for a future column. After polishing off a taco, burrito, and enchilada, we went back home. Remington laid down on our couch with a rounded belly and an expression on his face as if he had just sat through a marathon viewing of the movie Manchester by the Sea. “That was a lot of food,” Remington mumbled. “I’m going to skip dinner.” The next morning, I drove Remington to the hotel where his three-day training course was held. The hotel, which will remain nameless, is in a part of town I’m pretty familiar with. It’s an area with a lot of hotels and convention halls, and it’s primarily geared toward people travelling on business. Since he didn’t have a car during the three days, his only dining options were those within walking distance. Basically, what that meant was that no matter which restaurant he decided on, the only question the server asked him was, “What else would you like with your hamburger?” I Three days later, I picked him up from the hotel to bring him back to my house before he headed back to Beijing the next morning. I could tell immediately when I pulled up that something had changed. He was not the same person. Remington wasn’t the “happy-go-lucky guy who is up for anything.” He wasn’t even the guy thinking “I’m engorged with food so just leave me alone.” He was another person altogether. He was standing next to his suitcase right outside the lobby. His eyebrows were furrowed. His lips were pursed. His left foot was tapping the ground anxiously. “How was the training?” I asked, foolishly. Remington replied, “It was awful!” He seemed irritated I had even asked. After a few more minutes of tense conversation, it became clear what was going on. In fact, the training went well. He learned a lot and the certification would help him with his work back home. But the food … Three days of hamburgers! I can’t take it anymore! Every place I went, all they had were hamburgers! The one meal that wasn’t a hamburger was lunch, when the hotel brought food for us during the meeting, and that was a sandwich, which is basically just a cold hamburger! If I have another hamburger, so help me! At this point, I decided that jokingly offering to take him to the Hamburger Factory in our neighborhood likely wouldn’t go over well, and probably wouldn’t be good for his health, or mine, for that matter. I headed straight for a restaurant nearby called the Tasty Noodle House. It’s one of my favorite Chinese restaurants. I drove there like I was rushing him to the emergency room. When we arrived at the restaurant, I saw an immediate problem — no parking. I glanced around the lot to make a beeline for anyone walking out who looked like they were about to leave. After a few minutes, a group came out — just in the nick of time. I was afraid Remington was about to get out and pull one of the other cars out of a spot on his own. So we finally sat down to order. To give you an idea of how much food he ordered, I was seriously considering whether we would qualify for the banquet discount of 15 percent after he was done. The only thing left was waiting for the food to be served. What is taking so long?!? It doesn’t take this long in Beijing! What do I have to do? Go back there and cook it myself? What is going on?!? Continued on page 7 Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication.