8 Perks of Having an Asian Friend

Hey guys, welcome to OTGW. It's Mike. It's Dan. Oh, don't forget to follow us. Instagram, Snapchat, all that good stuff. Facebook. All that awesome social media stuff for you. And watch the Double Chin Show. Hey Dan, you know, there are friends. And then there are Asian friends. That's right. That's what we are, right? In our respective friend circles, I got a lot of friends that are Caucasian, so I am the Asian friend. When I was in the Midwest, I was the Asian friend to my whole school. Honestly, sometimes that can sound kind of weird, bad, whatever, but I learned to embrace it. Why shouldn't you? Having an Asian friend means getting exposure to awesome cultures and everything they have to offer. Here are our top eight perks of having an Asian friend. Number one, food. Unsurprisingly, food is at the top of our list. We've said it plenty of times, but we'll say it again, Asians have some of the best foods in the world. Oh yeah, I can vouch for that. Having an Asian friend means having access, or at least more access, to delicious dishes, snacks, and ethnic desserts. These include common, well-known foods like your typical noodles, dumplings, sushi, etc., but also way more exotic specialty dishes that you might not have heard of otherwise. Like have you ever tried thousand-year-old eggs? Love thousand-year-old eggs. Or stinky tofu. Don't love stinky tofu. Don't love Dorian either. So this Asian friend will not take you to eat all that. But Mike, I can tell you that when I take my Western friends out, and you've experienced this, we order all kinds of stuff, and I always say this, Dan, if we didn't come with you here, we would have never ordered those things. And sometimes they'll even say, we never even would have found this place without you because we go to some weird, shady-looking places for food that if you just walk by, you'd be like, yeah, I'm not going there. This is why, like, when my Western friends ask me for recommendations and I can't go with them, I'm really wary because I'm like, if I can't take you there, you're not going to survive. Yeah, that's true. Sometimes the menu is even unreadable without an Asian friend. You don't know. Another perk of having Asian friends is their parents because Asian parents are super hospitable to guests and love fattening others up. So visiting your friend means you'll never go hungry. Get ready to be bombarded with food, though. Literally pout onto your plate for you. I noticed that when I was little, my friends didn't want to eat the weird stuff in my house, like thousand-year-old egg. But now that we're older, they do. So what changed? Yo, their tastes became more sophisticated. They got Asian 5. That's right. Haha. Number two, I specialize in this, the authentic tea person. Asians kind of have a thing for tea. It's pretty big in most Asian cultures, especially Chinese, since the drink has its roots in China. That's right. And with so many types of teas in the world, jasmine, oolong, and matcha, to name a few, and so many ways to drink them, it can get a bit confusing. But if you've got an Asian friend, chances are that that friend or his or her family probably knows something about tea. Yeah, you're not that friend. I don't know. You just named like three teas. There's like 18 million types of teas. I'll just drink whatever tea. They say, what kind of tea? I'm like, whatever. Anyways, you'll have a chance to experience authentic Asian tea, maybe even a traditional tea ceremony. If you're really lucky, at the very least, you will be able to broaden your knowledge of and exposure to this beloved beverage. Number three, Asian holidays. Three words, Chinese New Year. This popular holiday, also called Lunar New Year, since it's based on the lunar calendar, is actually celebrated by many Asian cultures and is known by different names across different countries. Basically, having an Asian friend will give you more excuses to celebrate, which are never a bad thing. And when we say celebrate, we mean celebrate. Asians seriously know how to party. Chinese New Year means crazy decorations, fireworks and firecrackers, lion dances and parades, and of course, massive amounts of food. My favorite way to bring you the New Year, or actually do anything really. Right. And if you have an Asian friend, you'll probably be invited to participate in the festivities and you'll also have a chance to learn a ton about other cultures and their traditions. Double whammy. That's right. And, you know, eat triple whammy. Oh, and here's another thing that's cool if you have an Asian friend, bargains. When it comes to shopping, your Asian friend is your best friend. We spot sales and track down bargains like nobody's business. So we've got you covered. It's a long and intense training process, of course, involving a lot of careful observation of Asian parents, the original masters of the trade. Hey, it's just how we're raised, right? You'll save tons of money, whether it's groceries or clothes, and you'll probably pick up some tips and tricks for yourself along the way. And of course, when you find that item, if your Asian friend is really trained in this, they will know how to bargain. And I've never seen bargaining like Asians do. We can't live without a deal. It's ruthless. They're cutthroat. That's right. Next, number five, Asian movies. Just from hanging out with your Asian friend, you've probably also seen quite a few Asian movies, whether straight from Asia with English subtitles or adapted into less authentic, but sometimes still pretty decent, American versions. For starters, you've got your Kung Fu movies, my favorite. Two. Well, actually, your favorite. That's right. You've probably tried to pick up a move or two watching all these masters on screen, but probably not with much success, maybe with an injury or two. I mean, not speaking from personal experience or anything, but hey, regardless, it's still quality entertainment, right? And you'll be able to expand your film horizons and sound super cool and cultured to everyone else. Now, along the same vein, but also a whole separate category, Asian shows. If you mention Asian movies, you've got to mention Asian shows, and having an Asian friend means you have access to Korean dramas, Chinese dramas, Japanese dramas, you name it. You've got an Asian friend. You've probably watched at least one of these. And actually, if you've watched one, that probably means you've watched more than one because these things are addicting. You can't just stop at one episode. The love, the betrayal, the suspense, the unnecessarily overdramatic slo-mo hand turns and close-ups. Hey, of course, Asian shows aren't limited to those awesome shows you're talking about. There's also these crazy game shows, and of course, anime. Chances are, your friend has exposed you to shows like these that you probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. Imagine all the characters you wouldn't have met and followed in your life. Naruto! Tenshin! Next, another great benefit of having an Asian friend is you pick up some of the language. Between meeting and spending time with your friend's family and watching all those Asian movies and TV shows, you're bound to pick up a little bit of the language along the way. Well, at least you'll know how to order stuff in that language, right? Yeah, unless your friends are messing with you. Watch out for that. You might find a plate of pig intestines on your table. That could happen. And also, you'll learn more than just your basic nihao. With more exposure, you're likely to pick up conversational language as well. Yeah, I could probably hold a conversation in Japanese going purely off phrases learned from anime. Well, probably ancient Japanese because I love kenshin. But, you know, maybe I can't. Oh, I know how to say cheesecake in Japanese. Cheesecake! Another benefit would be your personal tour guide and translator. Finally, if you ever decide to travel to Asia to see it for yourself, which, by the way, you totally should since it's home to some of the richest cultures and most beautiful places in the world, you've got yourself a travel buddy slash personal tour guide and free translator all in one. What more could you ask for? So get exploring, but more importantly, go give your Asian friends a hug. After all, these are just some added perks and it's awesome enough to have such an amazing guy or gal to call your friend, right? That's right. Mike, you know when we hang out, you're my Asian friend because you order the food that I wouldn't order, you translate it for me, you take me to places that I wouldn't go, and then I take that and I show that off to my Western friends. So thanks, dude! So you learn all the Asian-ness from me. That's pretty much right. So you need an Asian friend. So sometimes when you're an Asian, you still need an Asian friend. That's right, guys. The perks of an Asian friend crosses all cultures. All right, guys, thank you so much for watching. We'll see you later. Later!