Big Person Little World

I don't know if you have ever seen the show "Little People, Big World" before or not.  In short (ha ha no pun intended) it is about a dwarf midget "little person" (that sounds a lot more demeaning if you ask me) man and woman who get married and have three normal regular "typical" children and one "little person" child.  The one or two episodes I've actually seen are fairly interesting.  It shows all of the many challenges that they face because they are smaller than the "typical" person.

Well living here in China I feel like my life is this show, just the opposite.  Now presenting, "Big Person, Little World."

 

Yes, I have been fairly big for many years.  I hit 6' 2" the summer after middle school.  However, size is a very relative thing.  Example, last year I lived with four guys: Jay 6' 10", Derek 6' 4", and well...Ellis at 5' 10" (he's a cute little guy).  After living with those guys I felt pretty average if not below average in stature.  I have also been around football players nearly my whole life.  Therefore, it has taken a little getting used to feeling like a freak of nature her in China.  I didn't have people coming up to me everyday in the States to touch my arms, try and reach my head, or explain to me in Charades that my thighs are bigger than their waste...yeah that one can hurt sometimes.

I had some prior experience of couping with the difficulties of being a larger than the normal person before arriving to China.  I never expect to find my sizes in Goodwill, to be comfortable in planes, trains, or automobiles, along with other things.  However, these were nothing compared to living over here.  I tried to find some shirts the other day...good thing I've lost weight since football, the largest they carry is a XXXL.  It is approximately the same size as a large in the U.S.  I gave up on shoes pretty quickly after I found out that a size 14 is equal to a XXXXXXXXXXL (10XL). 

However, there do seem to be some perks as well. Examples: playing rugby, basketball, or trying to be found in large crowds by friends I'm meeting. In basketball they call me Shaq and always want me on their team. It great because I loathed basketball back in the States, but now that it is so much easier I kind of like it. 

The bottom line, I learned quickly that you just have to have fun with it. Hence my Chinese name  Dà yú nǐ, which means "bigger than you."