 What are actually the best things about being Asian? The internet is weighing in. Yeah, there was a Reddit thread over the weekend that popped up and I thought it was really important to cover this because sometimes the negative news or the controversial news is the stuff that goes viral. So this one, we just wanted to focus on the good things about being Asian. By the way, we're not saying that non-Asians don't do these things. We're not saying 100 out of 100 Asians do do these things. But you would say Andrew, these behaviors are what? Commonly associated with the Asian upbringing. Yes, definitely. It's a long list, guys. So here are things that are good about being Asian. Please hit that like button. Check out other episodes of the hot pot boys. Let us know if you do these things, agree or disagree. And also some other extra things in the comment section below. Andrew, the clean floors, whether it's carpet, hardwood floors, most Asians take off their shoes when they go in the house, right? Yeah. And that keeps the floor it's clean. I don't really understand the logic of people wearing shoes in the house. Still 30 years into my life doesn't make sense to me. Well, it's because, you know, there's a thing about feet in the Western world. It's kind of sexual, maybe a little phallic. I don't know, like, it's just different. I don't want people feeling so comfortable to take off their shoes in their house. You don't get to kick off your shoes. I get to kick off my shoes. Hey, don't you take off your shoes in my house. I'm going to snap a picture and sell it on only fans. I would say that's one thing that I see a lot of second-gen, Andrew, even your most, like, quote, unquote, like whitewashed or American second-gen Asians, they still take off their shoes probably eight out of 10 times. Oh, yeah. Somebody said, you know, we just believe in more collectivism. We're not always fighting about little things like masks, getting vaxed, or being a Karen. Whether we agree with that individually or not, we're just trying to do whatever is viewed as good for society. Yeah. I mean, I would say right now, it feels like in America, maybe there could be some more collectivist culture. I know this. What do you mean communism? Is that what you mean, Andrew? You trying to bring it? I don't know. Maybe there needs to be a little bit. Geeze. I think there's pros and cons to having ego and id and all these things. And maybe, Andrew, would you agree with me? Like America is like a land of extremes, right? I think Europe was always more individualistic, specifically Western Europe than Asia. But it's a push and pull process. And right now, we need to pull back some of the individualism because all the mechanics, they're supposed to fix the car. Let's say the car is American society. The mechanics are fighting with each other instead of fixing the car. Yeah. But you know, I think American culture and it is a beautiful culture, but it's also based around just like fighting back. If you don't believe it, fight back. If you don't believe in pandemic, fight back. If you don't believe in the government, fight back. And so there's just pros and cons to everything. Yeah. Somebody said, I noticed in my Asian work group, we actually wait for other people to stop talking and we'll even wait a few seconds after they're done talking to see if they have any extra thoughts. But when we step outside of our Asian work group into our general mainstream corporate job, man, people are just being contentious. And if you're viewed as Damir and Dawso, it's a week in push over. But in the Asian group, it's not like that. Yeah. I mean, it's different social norms. I'm sure that the Asian group is not also the most feared group in the company either. But at the same time, guys, yeah, very respectful. And then, but in the corporate world, there's always that dilemma and that balancing act of like staying confident, outspoken, speaking your mind. Running in like a military operation, or is it like a debate? Or is it like a hierarchical? Who knows? Different cultures definitely run their corporate structures differently. Somebody said, I really like how the traditional foods are healthier. But I do agree that over time, the Americanized version of Asian foods, whether it's like Chinese American food or Korean fried chicken, you know, that have been mixed with American culture, they definitely got less healthy over time. Oh, yeah, man. Definitely. I mean, traditional Asian food, man, is so good. But what is traditional Asian food, Andrew? Is that food that what an 80-year-old or 90-year-old Asian of your same motherland country would eat, right? Yeah. It's going to be interesting in 50 years what we consider traditional Asian food. Is it still going to be the food that we consider traditional today? Or is that going to change? Because a lot of recipes are anywhere from 50 to 300 years old, right? Yeah. Somebody said that a real American food, Andrew, at least American fast food, right, which is a derivative of European food, but even more commoditized is actually just trying to figure out the most efficient sugar, salt, dopamine delivery system. And I guess you see that reflected in American Chinese food, right? Because like the general souls and the orange chicken and the- You are saying that the Americanized version of Asian food is the dopamine-ized version of traditional Asian food. Right. With perhaps more focus on being addicted to it than the health or the tradition or the tradition and the stories. Somebody said, I think being Asian is really dope because we got cool combat sports and martial arts. Whether you're talking about Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Judo, Jujitsu, Kung Fu, you know, the Filipino stick fighting, there's so many different things. Yeah, no. And I think that, you know, aside from Western boxing, which is very much a Western style of boxing, everything else kind of comes from like the East in a way. I don't want to only say East Asia takes credit. Obviously Muay Thai, there is some martial arts from like the Middle Eastern regions and the Indian regions. But man, I would say, dude, that's why everybody loves our Kung Fu movies. That's why anybody who's at least doing a movie has to learn some type of martial arts, if not like Kung Fu. Oh, and by the way, I definitely recommend that all everybody with kids put your kids in some sort of at least Taekwondo. You know, it is good because, you know, Asians, we get tested a lot in the Western society. Anyway, somebody said Asians, I love being Asian because we don't smell as much when we sweat genetically. The sweat glands don't mix with the smell glands as much. All right, guys, there is actually a New York Times article. Scientists in recent years have shown that many East Asians, a group that includes China's ethnic Han majority, have a gene that lowers the likelihood of a strong human axillary odor. Yeah. I mean, I think we have less body hair, but somebody said, yeah, except for the nostrils. I don't know what's going on with the nostril hair. Yo, my nostrils hair grows so long and it's funny because I'm not super hairy, but everywhere I do have hair, it grows super long, man. Right. Arm pits, a little bit of my chest hair. The fly legs out the nose. Dude, man, that is something. And it's funny, I don't have a lot of hair follicles on my chest, but the few that I do just like to grow. Cue the alley-wong joke about smooth dolphins. Somebody said, I really love how Asians cook veggies so differently with marinades, pickling, sesame, fish sauce, walk fried, stir-fried. There's so many options versus the American way of eating vegetables. I will say this is like indisputable, man. If you want to say you like American steak better, if you like fried chicken better, I live with that than the way that Asians do it. But, man, vegetables, 100% indisputable fact, we do vegetables the best, man. Yeah, I would say especially in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, Americans were really struggling until New American cuisine came about. I do like the way the New American restaurants roast, you know, the beef sauté rates and stuff. I'll give it to them. There's sauté. But yeah, man, the old school way where they just put the hollandaise on the broccoli, that was crazy, or the cheddar cheese sauce. Somebody said, Asians are really open to trying new foods or even new flavors of the same old classic foods. Like, you're not going to hear an Asian go, oh, yo, like, that ain't supposed to go on a pizza. Pizza only supposed to be pepperoni or cheese. Like, Asians will try the ones with like corn on it or mayonnaise or whatever. Yeah, I mean, I'll be honest though, like we were saying earlier, Asian food in general has a lot more layers and flavors to it. Like, if you're talking about some Salisbury steak, I'm not saying that's a great dish, but it's also not hard to eat. It's very savory, got mashed potatoes, it's a beef patty, whatever. Yeah, I heard that Asian flavor, they like Asian layers when it comes to the flavor profiles. They like competing flavors and doing it in a medley, like, whereas like sometimes, especially specifically American comfort foods, they more hit in one direction, like mac and cheese. Next up, somebody said, man, it took me a while to accept my Asian features, but now I love them because we look so different. Classic Asian American issue. You grow up, you're like, I hate my eyes, all my hair is black, why is my hair so spiky? Oh my gosh, all right. And then you grow up, and then maybe you are found attractive, or you become more attractive, or you just become- Or you just find a market that likes how you look, right? Or you just become more secure in yourself, and you're just like, you know what? It is what it is. I value these things. They are good and bad. Each feature has pros and cons. You know what's funny? David, you never, you grew up never hating Asian features, right? But we realized that people with more Western features did get treated differently. Right, if you're an Asian with Western features, it does seem like it's like maybe in Asia as well, it's valued more for sure. Yeah, it's not so much how I feel about it. I feel no differently about it, whether someone's got a higher nose bridge than me or a lower, but I'm just like, oh, I see that people treat them different. Right, for sure. I mean, it's so interesting because like, there's the white standard of beauty in America, which is like the cover of Cosmo magazine circa like 10 years ago, now it's more diverse. And then there's the whitewashed Asian girl, who's like the Asian girl in Tridelch, right? And then you have the Enclave version, which is the Asian girl that's like ABG or Glam ABG. There's so many different types of ABGs nowadays. And then there's Asians in Asia, more like a fob look. I don't know, man, it's very interesting. Somebody said, I hated looking younger when I was a teenager, but now I'm in my 30s, I like it because a lot of Asians not all look younger than they are. No, obviously when you're growing up and you're already young, you don't want to look, when you're 18, you hate looking 14 because you're trying to like- Ang my baby. Yeah, you're trying to become an adult. But then as you see, and it's always that point, man, when you're an Asian and you see your other non-Asian peers your same age and you see that they're like balding or growing like, you know, a certain way and they look way older than you, then you start to value how you look younger. Yeah, I also think it's contextual. For example, Andrew, we work in media. We know that for actors that look very babyish, they play younger characters. And actors with those very like intense features, they play in like thrillers or more like dramatic things. Yeah, because the light hits their nodes at different angles and it makes their face look more serious. Somebody said, reverence for elders. I really think it's great that we have that and that Asian moms will cook like 10 dishes over five hours or 10 hours just for like in preparation of the family party. Yeah. And I will say it comes with pros and cons because then maybe your parents want to be more part of your life and then they can put more pressure on you because they're like, hey, like, you know, like we're gonna go cook for the kids. If you have kids, so have kids. Right, right, right. Because it's almost like as an immigrant, it's like the part of your life is the family project of what you guys are all doing together. No, you do kind of feel obligated to contribute back to the family. Oh, I definitely know some people who got married and had kids maybe not even earlier than they would have had themselves due to a lot of things around them. But, you know, those things around them brought them a lot of love and fulfillment too. Somebody said, you know, a lot of my American parents wanted to kick the kids out of the house to become empty nesters, but my Asian parents didn't even want me to move out. Somebody said, I really like how Asians know how to use chopsticks good. It feels like a little unique skill that we all have. Yo, when it comes to the minute movements and kind of the hand-eye, you know, finger coordination, Asians are really good, man. The food calligraphy. Not only do a lot of us grow up using chopsticks properly, but a lot of us, you know, maybe not me, but a lot of Asians learn how to write Asian characters, whether it's Japanese, Korean, or Chinese, and there's a lot of strokes in that. And by the way, we know that not all Asians use chopsticks, by the way, but I would say that an Asian, even of a country that doesn't traditionally use chopsticks, still more likely to know how to use chopsticks than a full Western person. Dude, I think chopsticks might have been the first robotics or some of the earlier robotics. Somebody said, I really like the artistic sensibilities of design and aesthetics from Asia. This person said, I'm Japanese, by the way. I do think it's easier if you're Japanese, because Japanese aesthetics are like globally renowned as Faya. But actually all Asian aesthetics north to south are dope to me. Dude, you know what I think is really cool when you see those smaller minority groups and you see some of their designs and some of their clothing, like the... From like Chom, you might see like a Chom pattern. I forgot the name. Yeah. They're like, you know, in the tribes and they're really cool looking too. For sure, for sure. Every East Asian country or Asian country in general sort of has a different look. Like I noticed Thailand and Vietnam, they use a lot of bamboo. Korea uses a lot of minimalistic granite. Japan's got its own like with the paper doors. Chinese stuff tends to be more ancient. Somebody said, I really enjoy the collective family unit struggle of trying to find a new home and a new culture. It gives me a sense of purpose in my life that maybe some of my other American friends do not have. Wow. Message. This is a deep one because it is true. I think this applies for all immigrant kids, but oftentimes obviously a lot of Asians are immigrant kids that they find purpose even through their family. Like whether or not you're religious or not, you have a purpose in life. You're like, yo, I got somebody I have to report to. It might not be God, but it's this larger thing. Yeah, sometimes it's the parents. It's the grandparents. Depending on how old school you are, it could even be your ancestors. I don't want to fail them. Right. What do you think about that though? I do think there's pros and cons of that too because in a way it's like, what if you have a really niche interest that your family's not into? But then at the same time, so that could hold you back, but then at the same time, it's really dope because it probably prevents the worst downside cases of not having support, which is maybe addictions or homelessness. Oh yeah, it's definitely not the most freeing thing guys. I think freeing is not a word I would use to describe a traditional Asian upbringing. Yeah. Somebody said Asians are sexy and we all know it. That's what I love. And yeah, absolutely. I think there are more sexy Asians than people know about. I think the ratio is higher than people give credit for, but also, I don't know, maybe sexy is not the first thing I think of always. Yeah, well I think global sexiness is more defined by the West or maybe like Latin America perhaps. And I would say that if you enjoy the Asian features, then obviously there are a lot of sexy Asians nowadays. I think Asians know now how to be sexier. You know what I think is really important about the internet is it let Asian Americans know what was available in Asia. You can find the sexy people in Asia because I think previously, even like 10, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, people only knew, even as an Asian American, of course, non-Asians, they only know what they've been exposed to. But even Asian Americans, they might think, oh, we're just this thing. But when you go back to Asia, Asians are everything. They're the goody two shoes. They're the gangsters. They're the AV stars or everything. For some reason on my explore page on IG, there's a lot of sexy Asians. I don't know why. Yeah, somebody said, I really like being able to connect with AAPI peers and just have some dope commonality off the bat. I guess in America, they're saying it's cool to, like obviously in a country that's not very Asian, which is Asians only make up 6% of America. Like there's commonality off the rip as a shared minority group. Yeah, I think Asian Americans are a lot more down to talk about Asian culture with each other upon meeting each other. I think in years past, if you met the only other Asian at work, they'd be like, oh, what are you talking to me about? It could even be potentially competitive or contentious, right? Yeah, but I think it's a little bit, it's definitely a lot more open. People are down. Somebody said we have really nice skin and nice hair. I mean, it depends on what you like about nice hair. I mean, it is very straight, jet black. I will tell you this, after cutting a lot of Asian hair, right, you can get splinters because it's sharp. When you cut like straight hair at a certain angle, it can literally stick in your skin also because I have soft skin. Wow. So what do you know? Straight black hair into my soft Asian skin. I'm getting splinters. Yeah, I would definitely say in the mainstream media, when people think of describing in Asian, they're going to think of the eyes first and then like maybe a slight or some sort of yellowish hue to the skin, but they're not going to be thinking about the soft skin and the jet black hair. Somebody said the good work ethics. Yeah, I mean, I just think. I just think the idea of work is just so ingrained in Asians, man. Like I'm not saying it's only formal like schoolwork or studying. It doesn't have to do with necessarily schooling as much as I think out of baseline. All Asians just want to work. For sure. Somebody said I really like the emphasis on education and prosperity. I personally grew up in a lower middle class neighborhood and a lot of other people in my neighborhood never broke out of that cycle of this or that brokenness or this or that, but me and my Asian peers were able to lift ourselves, you know, go somewhere else. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I mean, even if you think about like a lot of Asian kind of festivals or celebrations, a lot of it has to do with prosperity and like success and like, I mean, I think maybe even Chinese culture even focused the most on it, but I do think other Asian cultures, it's also similar. Yeah, I mean, I think if you look at our dad's life growing up, he had a corporate job, but it was like nine to seven, like putting in like 55 a week. It really is nothing to him. Like if you got to do it, he's not even going to blink an eye at it. And I think that if you look at Asia, Andrew, sometimes the jobs are nine to nine. It's like a 12 hour shift even. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, I guess there's not much to complain about relative when you know here, but it also depends on how much you assimilate. Somebody said, I'm proud that we're so different from the Western world, but we still got nice things that we developed independently and we want to show them to the world. Yeah. And I think that this is actually an interesting point that a lot of Asians can be proud about because like I think that there is a sense like for example, America, right? Oh, like how does America build? They built it on the backs of Native Americans, Black people, like even a lot of Asian immigrants, like taking advantage of basically a lot of the immigrants that came through America. However, Asia got built up not necessarily because of that. I do think Asia benefited from the West though by trading with the West. Let's be clear. But no, as far as all that other, like the work that was put into it, it was for the most part homegrown. I think for me, one thing that I'm not as invested in is like maybe some of the Western rivalries. You know, like I find, and I'm not saying 100%, but like Western people, sometimes they're so what locked in the Western rivalries, whether it's like maybe Abrahamic religions like Christian versus Muslim versus Judaism, whereas like as an Asian, I'm like, man, I don't ever know. I don't think I'm not saying we didn't have wars, but I don't think we had any religious wars in Asia. So I'm not really like, I'm like, man, I hope everybody can work it out, but it's true that I also feel kind of separate from this. Somebody said, and on a light one, Asian food is the best. Asian food is super diverse, but of course there are some things, sesame, soy, fish sauce, even dashi from Japan comes from tuna, nook mom from Vietnam comes from anchovies, but like the, the, the, the boughs, the noodles, you know, there's certain ingredients that sort of bond Asia together. Fried rice is different types of fried rice. I mean, just the culinary culture in Asia, it doesn't matter who you talk to, so many world renowned chefs, they always look at Asia and are like, Oh, the culinary, the cuisine art behind it is so advanced and well developed and they use all these different types of, like, yo, there's frying, there's steaming, there's sauteing or, or wok frying, right? There's boiling, there's all these are hot pot, there's grilling, there's all these different ways of cooking stuff in Asia. It's really crazy. Andrew, just a few more. Parents will always pay for education. I could see this. I mean, this is good, right? I mean, not all Asian parents do, I think if they have the means, they probably will though. That's the key in that, like, I think a lot of Asian parents are never like, Oh, we have the money, but nah, I'm gonna make you pay for school. Yeah, because I want to go on a cruise or something like that. I would say that one thing you should do, and this is just a side recommendation, I think Asian kids owe it to their parents to major in something smart, but they can go do whatever they want. Like major in something hard to show that you spent your time not just, you know, playing video games and drinking or whatever. Somebody said Asian languages look really cool, like calligraphy. Yeah, I would say that a lot of Asian and languages- Why do so many people want them as tattoos? Yeah, and I'm not just talking about Chinese or, you know what I mean, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, I'm talking about Thai looks really dope, Burmese. Crazy. Really cool looking. Somebody said, I really like how Japanese cars or Korean cars or just Asian cars in general made them cheaper, more reliable, and have more features for the same price than Western cars or European cars. Yeah, the type of cars that Asians make are very symbolic of the type of people that Asians are. Asians deliver good value, man. Somebody said, I like how Asians have generally pretty high financial literacy. Yeah, I would say that definitely like some Asians, you know, it depends on like what your parents did. They could be like really heavy on the saving, but I'm not saying that's the best plan because sometimes you got to focus on making more money too, but it's not a bad plan. Yeah, yeah, I think Asians value that. Last but not least, Andrew, this is kind of a deep one. Somebody said, I really like being from a culture that is not very verbal centric. It's really that actions speak louder than words, whereas in the West, I feel like maybe some people have lost sight of that. That's an interesting point. I would have maybe never said this. Yeah. Because I kind of wish Asians were more communicative, but I can see the pros of it just being like, just show me the work. Yeah. Don't not tell me, son, what you want to do with your life. Just go and do it. I think because Asia, and you know, some people are going to be like, it's less feeling based. You I can't just do something wrong to you and then make you feel different about what I did. Because like you just gonna, the reaction is going to be based off the action, not based potentially around the spin that I'm putting on it. True. Anyway, let us know what you think in the comment section below, guys. These were just pulled off Reddit. For the most part, I would say I genuinely agree with these though. Yeah. I think these are cool. And I think depending on what type of life you want to live in America, you are going to value these things more or less, certain things, right? Less and more. So let us know in the comments down below what you think. Do you agree with these? What other things about being Asian? Do you really enjoy? Do you really value? And yeah, I'd love to hear your perspective. This is a little positive video. Let us know what you think in the comment section below. And until next time, we'd hop out, boys. We out. Peace.