10.03.2011
all the chinese kids are wearing one
Oh, that is helpful. The BBC's website with educational resources features a helpful section to teach kids Primary Languages, including French, Spanish and Mandarin. I point your attention to caricatures they have representing the three languages. While they're all donning stereotypical cultural headwear, the Chinese kid is wearing a bowl of rice. On his head.
Seriously, a freaking bowl of rice? I suppose they could have the obvious route and given the kid a stylish Conical Asian Hat. (I do wonder how many French kids walk around wearing berets these days.) But they avoided that by somehow going with something even more ridiculous. (Thanks, Channing.)
UPDATE: It appears that someone at BBC got wise and removed the rice bowl from that poor Chinese kid's head. Now he's just holding it. I mean, come on, you can't get rid of it altogether -- how in the world would visitors to the site know that he's Chinese? Because all Chinese people carry around bowls of rice, but only the most skilled ones carry them around on their heads. (Thanks, Kevin.)