喜喜

As soon as the guests were seated, a crew of waiters brought out steaming bowls of shark's-fin soup. Murmurs of approval swept through the room as the guests realized the lavishness of the feast about to be set before them. Like many brides, Sissee didn't have time to enjoy the banquet prepared in her honor. She circulated from table to table, pouring tea into little tea cups set on a tray. As she passed it around, each guest took a cup and replaced with lai see--the traditional good-luck paper money.

On Gold Mountain, Lisa See

Last week I had the honor of attending a Chinese wedding.

The rich hues of red and gold....the delectable aromas of Guangdong food....the warmth of wine and baijiu.....the celebration of a new marriage. It was magical--almost exactly as it is described in See's excerpt.

I don't want to delve into the differences between American and Chinese weddings (see Gary's blog for this info).....rather, I will allow the pictures to explain what I cannot:

Before the introduction of the bride and groom

The bride and Groom

Presentation of the bride and groom

The feast begins



Toasting each table

Susan in a traditional Chinese dress

我希望给你们高兴天

wo xiwang gei nimen gaoxing tian.
(Literally Translated: I wish to you happy day)
(What I want to say: I hope you both have a very happy day!)

I have no idea if I have the words are in the correct order...or if they really make sense (I did my best based on my tiny linguistic knowledge of Chinese)

Happy Birthday to two very special people: Tiffany and my Nana

I wish you loads of happiness on your special day.
I love you.
*laf

innocence.

Yesterday, Eleven (one of my students) approached me. He had quite a dilemma. Apparently my brother, Garreth--Eleven's pen-pal--posed some questions concerning his current "relationship". Eleven was perplexed: he desperately wanted to help Garreth...answer his questions....ease his mind. Although distraught, Eleven confided in me...told me his problem:

"I never have girlfriend. I know nothing about girls. I cannot help your brother. I just do not know what to say. Please keep this our secret."

Humored, I helped erase Eleven's doubts and concerns (after all, I hardly understand my own gender). I smiled, put my hand on his shoulder, and asked him if he would like to play a game outside. Half a millisecond--doubts gone--a smile emerges--"I love outside! I love the weather!"

Welcome back to the age of innocence....

where girls still giggle--they don't gossip, hold hands--not each other's purses, shop for pretty hair barrettes--not make-up, and cry because a girlfriend--not a boyfriend--hurt their feelings.

where boys trip one another between class to impress other boys--not girls, sit together at lunch and discuss soccer--instead of girls, and worry about their academics--not girls.

where all children are mischievous.....never malicious.

This is one of my favorite things about China: children are still children....even in high school.

These children bring warmth and happiness to my day...much like my AP students did.

They are beautiful and sweet and innocent...............

self improvement.

I woke up this morning and found large bleach spots all over one of my favorite dresses. Usually, this would send me into a quiet rage and I would cry for fifteen minutes and remain livid for the rest of the day. However, this morning I looked at the dress, shook my head, and repeated Tiffany's famous words: "Oh, China."

For some reason, I am slowly becoming like my mother: immune to life's trivial problems.......

I have China to thank for this phenomenon.

When I travelled to China last April, my train trip to Qufu landed me in one of the worst situations: sitting on a hard-seat for an eight hour train ride. Let me describe the situation with a picture:

Image was borrowed from: http://www.bartellonline.com/summer/1/train-hard_seat.jpg

Now, this doesn't look too bad. However, let me change the seating arrangement/capacity limit. Imagine every seat is packed (three or four people per bench), boxes, suitcases, bags, and oil canisters are slammed onto the overhead shelf and laying on the floor. The tiny slots of available floor space are occupied by passengers--because those who cannot afford a hard-seat (92 kuai=$11 USD), like me, have to purchase a "standing room" ticket. For eight hours, they will stand or sit in what little floor space is available. But, this isn't the worst part......imagine the filth on the floors....people spit, babies eliminate, oil canisters leak.....imagine the smells....eight suffocating hours of little ventilation....the lingering aromas of food and body odor. You can't rest your head anywhere; you can't change the position of your body; you can't move. It's 11:33pm.

It just eight hours......just eight hours.

Just as I wanted to start crying, I looked toward the floor: sitting in the filth was a man my father's age..... his knees were drawn into his chest; he looked tired, dirty, emaciated, and in pain.

This image struck me harder than any other. How shameful it was that I wanted to cry because I was sitting in a hard-seat instead of comfortably resting in a hard-sleeper.

China's taught me a lot. But, more importantly, it has constantly reinforced one timeless lesson: Life's not fair.

And so the saga continues.....I see all types of suffering on a daily basis. But this time, I don't shame myself; I try to change myself. When something bad happens to me, I try to remind myself of the triviality of the situation.

I can't change the world, or end the poverty that plagues so many. But, I can make small changes in my own life. Perhaps that is why my mother has done so much good for her family, friends, and community....a long time ago she stopped focusing on insignificant problems, and poured her energy into things of importance.

when you get bored on a sunday afternoon in china.....

you can do what tiffany does: create your own marketing campaign.

Tagline--"She is STYLISH, MODERN BUT CLASSIC AND FRESH AS A DAISY"......

The Newvo Ruby the Riveter takes on the bathroom..........armed with pink rubber gloves, silk scarf and pearls. Oh yeah and some bathroom cleaner and a scrub brush. She thought about cleaning while listening to the Les Mis soundtrack.....but only gets as far as pouring the bleach on the floor-----then lets the foaming bubbles take care of the rest.

Feel free to submit this to Arm and Hammer as an idea for a marketing campaign.

"Road trippin' with my two favorite allies"*

This week marked the celebrations of both NationalDay and the Mid-Autumn festival in China. It is a week of mooncakes, bright festivities, and vacationing. Thus, I took advantage of this special week by venturing to a geologic jewel in the northern part of Guangdong Province: Danxia Shan.

At the entrance of Nanhua

With meager research, a few hundred kuai, and our backpacks and phrasebooks, Gary, Tiffany, and I set out early Tuesday morning to catch a bus to Shaoguan (a middle sized city--3 million--in northern Guangdong). Once in Shaoguan, we bought maps and headed to Nanhua monastery...a temple with more than 1,500 years of history. It was founded in 502 by the Indian monk Zhiyao Sanzang. However, the temple became renowned when Huineng, the sixth patriarch, reached enlightenment. It was Huineng's doctrine of Nanzong Chanfo (Chan Buddhism) that spread throughout China and eventually bled into Japan as Zen.

A monk explaining something to a child.

After enjoying the monastery, we caught a bus back to the city center and began the "accommodation search." Many people would consider this a daunting task...especially when you are on a budget, don't speak the language very well, and happen to be traveling during one of the busiest seasons in China. However, God blessed me with pragmatism, Gary with tremendous linguistic skills, and Tiffany with empirical reasoning.....thus, we found a hostel in the city center. Fortunately, God also graced all three of us with endurance, patience, and understanding......because for 20 kuai ($2.53 per person) a night, you can't expect air conditioning, a personal bathroom, or your door to close all the way. However, you can expect a fan that doesn't work well, a mosquito net above your bed, a community bathroom (a floor below you) that contains two squatters, and mysterious noises that occur at 3 am.

Looking out the backdoor of our room.

We rose early the next morning due to a combination of necessity and a deep desire to leave the hostel and caught a bus to Danxia Shan. According to Chinese legend, this is the place where Lady Nuwa molded man and woman from the red clay and gave birth to civilization. Strangely enough, the topography and geologic wonders of this park reinforce this legend, or as my friend Tiffany writes: "We didn't realize until we got to Mount Danxia geological park that it was known for its sexually explicit rock formations. We were shocked to see these types of formations and erotic artwork in puritanical China." Yes. It is true; there are rock formations in the shape of genitalia. Despite these symbolic rocks and interesting sociological discoveries, the mountain provided us a much-needed escape......an escape from Shenzhen's noise and pollution. There is nothing like cool, crisp mountain air, a difficult climb, and the exquisite view on top of Danxia's highest peak.

Climbing to the top.

A view from the edge of the Buddhist monastery in the mountain.

Trekking through narrow passages in the mountain.

Yes, money can buy an easy ride to the top.

After our day on the mountain, we returned to Shaoguan, found a new hostel, and enjoyed dinner and a beer on Shaoguan's famous pedestrian street. Although we planned to go white water rafting the next day, the bus schedule did not accommodate our vacation plans....thus, we were forced to forgo the river and hop on the bus at 9am.

On the pedestrian street, enjoying our favorite candied fruit.

This was a particularly interesting encounter. A wedding party was having its reception at this restaurant. Upon arriving at the entrance, we were given cigarettes (which we were required to light and smoke) and a warm welcome. I hope they understood that the Meiguo ren were not part of the celebrations.

Three kids, three backpacks, and a mandarin phrasebook......we had the time of our lives.

Due to the large quantity of pictures we took during our short stint, I cannot show them all on this blog. However, you can visit both Gary's and Tiffany's picture sites and view some fabulous photographs:

1) Gary's Pictures
2) Tiffany's Pictures

*One must give credit where it is due: This is a song lyric from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.