Dear Fat Traveler,

I'm married to a large guy (whom I adore) and we've had some interesting experiences overseas. We recently returned from an assignment in So. Korea, and your comments are right on target.

When he went to Taiwan with a male friend of his, he went to a furniture factory. His friend is one of those excessively lean types, and he was the one with all the money (my husband was broke). But the factory owners wouldn't talk to the friend because he didn't have any status. They decided this based on my husband's weight. So Hubby bargained for the furniture that his friend wanted to buy, got a super deal and then REALLY increased in status when he turned to his friend to get the money to pay! My husband was so rich, he had a hired hand to carry money for him!

I don't know if you've ever tried to ride in a train in Europe, but when they pull the beds down at night, they're only about 24 inches wide. We had planned to get a lot of distance on our Eurailpass by taking night trains everywhere, but ended up only doing it twice.

And I don't know if this happens to you, but whenever my husband and I eat at a buffet, the server looks at him and then adds a second spoonful of whatever. He and I can buy the same dinner, and he'll get twice as much! Reverse discrimination. (This even happened in Navy chow halls when he was on a mandatory weight program!)

Anyway, thanks for a neat page.

Reed


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Email: wendy@avhana.shinsung.ac.kr