New Japanese parents receiving a gift traditionally give a lesser one in return. Similar to the American custom of handing out cigars in the U.S...except they are not trying to give family members lung cancer. The Yoshimiya rice shop in Fukuoka recently created an traditional return gift: small bags of rice in the weight of the newborn, printed with a picture of its face and name, so that original gift-givers (relatives, friends) can experience cuddling, holding and loving on the newborn. This gift is quite practical because after cuddling the baby rice bag, the relatives can then set down to a nice meal of baby rice. The Yoshimiya's owner admitts some people might have a problem with that. [Reuters, 1-8-07]
"We sleep with the snakes (i.e. cobras), we eat with the snakes, we live with the snakes (but) we are not scared," said a 14-year-old girl in a rural village outside Calcutta, India. The village leader insists, "Whenever I lie down in my bed, a cobra will just slide on top of me, without hurting me." Its estimated more than 3,000 cobras live in these small villages, largely in peace. Very few bite victims (though a cobra bite is often fatal because villagers initially trust the gods and spirit doctors to treat them)are reported. Many villages so revere Cobras that they view bites as attacks by bad vipers or "nonresident" cobras [Wall Street Journal, 11-26-07]
