02. January 2014

Happy New Year!

In the middle of December, my daughter had a cold and then my wife had a cold after the trip and finally I did! Though I'm not feeling well but I'm not so bad.......that I can update my blog to say Happy New Year ! I understand cold is now very common here on Kauai but I do hope you are well or getting better.

In Japanese, "common cold" is called "Kaze" written as "風邪(kaze) in Kanji.”〝風”means " wind" and "邪" means "Evil." So風邪(kaze) literally means "evil wind" because common cold was believed to be caused by "Evil factor" of the wind.

On the other hand, the origins of the English word "Cold", comes from the belief that being exposed to cold weather is what causes someone to, "catch", a cold...according to the Common Cold.

Then how do you get better from the cold?

I was very curious because there are many opinions about this and sometimes the ways to cure cold are quite opposite.

For example, in Japan, it was said that if you caught a cold, you should not take a shower. You should make yourself warm and let sweat out. On the other hand, here in Hawaii, you should take a cold shower to reduce your fever.

I was interested to know what kind of old wives' remedies do they have?

And I've found an interesting website to introduce various countries folk remedies for the common cold.

England...."Feed a cold, Starve a fever." Eat and rest well if you caught a cold. Eat less and drink more water if you had a fever.

Germany...Drink warm beer before sleep. You should not drink cold beer. Drink red wine with sugar and egg. And as for eating, lots of fruits which have lots of vitamin are recommended.

Russia....Eat raw Aloe. Drink vodka with pepper in the beginning of catching a cold.

China..."Drink more hot water if you are not feeling well." Also traditional Chinese herbal medicine is good depending on the symptom.