During my Freshman and Sophomore years in college I lived in an apartment with three guys. One of the guys was Jun Zhang, a Chinese graduate student who is currently studying optical engineering and working towards a PhD in that field. During one of our many discussions about China I expressed an interest in visiting the country one day. He told me that I should really pursue that goal and that I'd love China. He also said that Chinese girls would go crazy for me. I thought he was just being a nice guy by saying that, but after being here for 3 months I can tell you that it isn't far from the truth. Now, the girls don't exactly fall head over heals for me, but I do get a lot of compliments on my eyes. The funny part is that it isn't just girls who tell me I have pretty eyes, it's guys as well. There have been a handful of people who have asked me if I'd like to trade eyes with them. I've heard that this is because Chinese people are typically attracted to big, round eyes. I can confirm this because every advertisement here features Chinese men and/or women models with rounder eyes than East Asians usually have. There is also a huge demand for cosmetic eye surgery here in China. People actually get surgery to give there eyes a more full European or American look. That seems pretty risky to me, but that's a risk some people are willing to take for beauty. I have gotten a few compliments back home about my eyes, but not nearly as many as here in China. When I look in the mirror or see pictures of myself my eyes don't seem to be any different than most Westerners, so I imagine that lots of Americans and Europeans get the same thing. Still, every time someone comes up to me and says I have nice eyes, I can't help but feel just as flattered as I was when I was told it the first time. The attraction to eyes makes sense to me, but the other thing that Chinese people find appealing on a person's face still seems strange. Of all the other gorgeous features I have on my face the one thing I always hear about from Chinese people is my nose. That's right, my nose. To put it nicely, my nose is very prominent. More bluntly, it's big. It is probably the one part of myself that I have always been the most self-conscious of. I remember kids making fun of it from elementary school all the way through the early years of high school. With that being said, you can imagine my confusion when person after person would tell me I have a beautiful nose. The strangest encounter I had was at a club one night. I went up to the bar to get drinks for my group and the bartender spoke English. She was clearly drunk, probably more so than most of the people in the club, which seems to be acceptable behavior for bartenders in China. After she handed me the drinks she told me I had nice eyes and a pretty nose. I couldn't hear her over the music, so I leaned closer and asked her to repeat what she said. At this point she proceeded to rub the bridge of my nose and say how pretty it is. I was a little freaked out, but also tremendously flattered. I felt like the Ugly Duckling. For my whole life my nose has been the least favorite part of myself, and now I find that in China a nose as big as mine is revered. Try to wrap your head around that one. I must say that it has been nice walking the streets of Nanjing knowing that having big eyes and a big nose is something to be proud of. Can you blame me for puffing out my chest a little bit? I figure that I'm entitled to live it up and enjoy my status here while I can because my ego will promptly be deflated once I step back onto American soil. Until then I will continue to flaunt my money makers every chance I get.
