As the Parkinson’s community prepares to convene in Kyoto next week for #WPC2019 (World Parkinson Congress 2019), my observation for today is that there is one tradition of Asian cultures that is not particularly Parkinson’s friendly or accommodating … chopsticks. People with Parkinson’s in this part of the world must have serious challenges with traditional meals. The western world’s “Parkinson’s vs. the soup spoon” is trivial in comparison and hardly seems worth complaining about. I’ll be curious if there is any increased awareness of this issue in Kyoto next week.
We’re visiting Beijing and Tokyo enroute to Kyoto. Tonight’s dinner in Beijing was family style … which meant not just eating with chopsticks, but reaching across the table and serving with chopsticks from shared plates. Talk about a challenge!
Somewhere I suspect there is a specialty chopsticks company with an adaptive chopsticks product line that is missing out on an excellent marketing opportunity next week.
Speaking of next week at WPC2019, I’ll have a poster display in the poster hall at space P41.26. If anyone wants to drop by, my official poster tour time is between 11:30am and 1:30pm on Thursday.
When I visited WPC2016 in Portland, the poster area was one of my favorite parts, especially the posters by people with PD. So I expect there will be other posters in the same general area that are worth checking out.
I plan on being around the poster area some other times during the week as well, as it’s a great opportunity to meet people. I’m packing a “will return at” sign to hang under the poster in the event that anyone wants to meet…it will at least give an idea of when I’ll be around.