My co-worker Diana is getting married in May. I’m very excited for her wedding (it’ll be the first Chinese wedding I’ve attended), and we have had quite a few discussions about differences between marriage in China and the US. Recently we had the following gem of a conversation:
Diana: In America women usually take the man’s name when they get married, right?
Me: Yeah, usually they do. Do you do the same here in China?
Diana: No, this is a modern country.
Ouch.
“Do the men who get married in China pay a dowry?”
“Sometimes. What about the men in America?”
Hee hee hee, I feel very validated!