"Enough to Live"

The people here have a phrase that basically translates to “enough to live.” The remarkable thing is that it means something totally opposite than what we would call “scraping by” or “making ends meet.” The phrase “enough to live” is more like a goal than a concession.

It was explained to me like this: “Think of it like being full. The rich man spends lots of money to get a piece of steak which he eats to get full. The poor man cooks a bowl of rice and some tofu, and he gets full just the same.” The point of course being that if rice and tofu is “enough to live” on, why spend tons of money to get a steak?

This is a great picture of the culture here, because it shows some of its greatest strengths and weakness as compared with my own. While it sometimes leads to laziness and unwillingness to work hard, it also shows how thankful people here tend to be for what they have. For me, it’s easy to view it as “settling,” because my native culture has taught me that living with anything less than what’s possible is…well, stupid. But I seem to recall a wise man who once saw it more from this cultural perspective: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

I’m not saying we should all quit our jobs and work as little as possible. Like I said there are both pros and cons involved here. What I am saying is that one of the things I love about living here is that I’m not just learning a new language and culture in order to do the job I came here to do. I’m also learning about a different attitude and view of the world that sometimes teaches me things I want to incorporate into my own life.

After all, who wouldn’t love a little more contentment?