wives' tales

Recently there was a small gathering chez maikaojai. I proved definitively that, while I can lay out a good spread (and I was particularly pleased with the salsa I made), I am no kind of judge of the amount of beer that some of our friends can drink. I guess I'll have to stop using myself as a guide ("let's see, I'm good for about half a bottle*, and there are ten people coming, so that's five bottles").

*Beer in Thailand is sold in largish bottles that are roughly equivalent to two cans in the U.S.

Said gathering was a success, despite the quick trip to the convenience store to buy more beer. It did divide rather sharply by sex, though: while the men huddled intently over the Risk board, either playing or "helping," the women retired to what would be the kitchen if we had one. We sat around the table, ate most of the food, and chatted. Since one of our number is pregnant (rare enough in this cohort--to the shame of the Second Wavers, I'm sure, very few of us are currently trying to "have it all"), our conversation centered around the blessed event to come. We talked about ultrasound pictures, about nutrition, about names, and of course, how to determine the sex of the baby without the aid of modern science.

First I learned that in Japan, it's considered best for the first child to be a girl and the second child to be a boy.

Then I learned that in Asia (or in Japan and Thailand anyway), if the mother-to-be carries the baby straight out in front of her, without gaining much weight in her sides, she's generally supposed to be having a boy. If her belly doesn't stick out so far, but she expands at her sides, she's supposed to be having a girl. Interesting. Time will tell. The particular baby we were speculating about is due in September--time will tell.