sofasurfers

Number One
As I’m tucking into my Mongie veggie stirfry, I notice that Katja, the
dreadlocked Danish girl who has been staying here before me, has
picked up her plate and is licking it clean. I glare at her with
undisguised shock. “We like to lick our plates,” assures Begzsuren, my
Mongolian host. So I see! And why, pray tell? “Well first, it shows a
good regard for the cook. Second it cleans the plate, and third it’s
good exercise for the tongue. Exercise is good for health. We exercise
the rest of our body, but not our tongue.”

Number Two
I returned from Mongolia to Ulan-Ude in Russia, reunited with my
Buryatian host, and found myself halfway through a hen party. Turns
out the Russkis have a much cleverer version of Mr & Mrs. Instead of
testing the bride how well she knows her future husband, they turn the
questioning onto the groom, and for every question he fails (for
example, identifying his bride-to-be’s lips from a selection of all
the hens’ lip imprints, or kissing a photo of his bride-to-be that has
been posted on the ceiling), he has to pay a fine and all the proceeds
go towards a big girls’ night out.