Happy Women’s Day!

How come we don’t celebrate this in the US?

The DH & I decided to eat hot pot and then go to our friend Julia’s cafe. She was holding a promotion to get a free cocktail just by wearing a qipao. Yes, I did spend the evening in a cafe/bar wearing a Chinese dress. None of the Chinese girls were even wearing one.

We took a gypsy cab to the restaurant and the driver had the strangest tick. Every three seconds or so he’d grip the steering wheel tightly and pull himself forward. He did this repeatedly throughout the drive. The worst the traffic, the more frequently he rocked himself forward. Hilarious. But not as funny as this guy:

Photograph hanging on the wall at our fave hot pot place.
I know, it is revolting. You should see this kind of thing in real life!

My new iphone case

Yesterday was my birthday. My 34th birthday. I’m not at all sure this is appropriate for a 34 year old woman, but since it is quite normal to decorate your home, desk and car with stuffed animals and cartoons at any age in China, I figured this was okay. And besides, I might be 34 but I don’t feel it. I’m starting to realize that the day when you supposedly feel “like an adult” never actually arrives. Right? Because I, more or less, feel pretty much the same way I did at 18. Okay, I’m a lot more world aware… but I’m not a “grown up.” Not yet!

The iphone case, btw, was purchased at a shop in Linyi called Little Seven. It’s an accessories store where you can buy hair clips, belts, wallets, scarves, bags and all sorts of random crap. The case above cost me 12RMB or ~$1.75. I also got one in a Louis Vuitton pattern with a giant gold Gucci teddy bear in the middle – because it was so authentic I couldn’t pass it up!

Happy Chinese New Year! May your new year be prosperous!

Every where we went today in Harbin, everyone told us “you know today is Chinese New Year…”
How could we not know with all the fireworks? haha… I think most people wanted to share their tradition, but also excuse all the closed shops and restaurants.

I’ll be posting my new year’s resolutions later this week… (so much better for us procrastinators to have until February!)

Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas! Os deseo una feliz navidad!

My brother, sister and I
A Christmas morning long ago
Castle Rock, Colorado

It’s a sunny day in Denver after a night of snow. We’ve got a busy day ahead – there are sugar cookies to be decorated, a trip to see the Nutcracker ballet, kids service at church, and a dinner of my sister-in-law’s famous gumbo. And Santa, of course. The niece and nephew are full of anticipation.

Yup, it’s that time of the year again – time to put up the Christmas tree!

Our non-traditional Christmas Tree Candle…

So the DH and I are pretty low-key when it comes to decorating for the holidays. Did you happen to see my horrendous attempt at a tree last year? Since I will be in the US this year and the DH in China, I’m decorating the blog instead of our home. Happy Holidays!

More Wordless Wednesday

Welcome to World Blog Surf Day! Today we are blogging about our favorite new holidays and celebrations. One of the things I find interesting about Chinese celebrations, particularly weddings, is the use of noise.

Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!

Wedding cannons on display – Photo by Simon Lim

I am no longer shocked by the cannon blasts shaking the walls of our fourth floor apartment, setting off all the car alarms in the neighborhood. The sounds I used to associate with war torn Iraq and Afghanistan are our regular Saturday morning alarm clocks. Somewhere in the distance, a rooster crows, as if complaining.

Rat-tat! Tat-tat! Rat-tat-tat!

Firecrackers explode in the street (not my photo, unknown photographer)

In between the cannon blasts, strings of mini-explosives detonate in long bursts. The noise is deafening as is reverberates between the concrete apartment blocks. From my shaking bed I open my eyes, recognize the noises of a Chinese wedding celebration and, checking the time, roll over and go back to sleep. Saturday mornings are prime wedding time. Soon the music will begin – saccharine Chinese pop ballads – and the bride will descend from her parents’ home to a waiting cavalcade of cars decorated in roses and balloons. From there the procession will drive to a restaurant or hotel where the ceremony and banquet take place.

Double Happiness – the symbol of marriage and weddings

I do not love being woken by tremendously loud air cannons, but I can’t be angry when I imagine the happy couple on the street below. Fireworks and loud noises are an essential component of Chinese celebrations and rituals, from weddings to funerals to the annual lunar new year. Anyone who watched the Beijing 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony will recognize how important fireworks are to the Chinese. The firecrackers and air cannons are used to scare away any bad “spirits” who might be lingering close by, waiting to create chaos and ruin the big day. (This is the traditional belief. In reality, hardly anyone still believes in spirits. Noisemakers are part of the culture now, but the significance is now purely ritual and show.) At Chinese weddings, the air cannons also shoot tons of paper confetti and strings into the air, creating a very festive entrance for the bride and groom. The streets of our apartment complex are covered in this confetti for days after the celebrations.

Colored confetti litters the ground

I am writing this on a Friday evening. Somewhere outside my window is a nervous young bride, spending her last night in her parents’ home. She can only wonder what joy tomorrow will bring her. I can only wonder how many cannon blasts will wake me in the morning. I wrote previously about a Chinese “East Meets West” wedding here and Chinese wedding processions here.

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Visit the next participant in World Blog Surf Day – Internation Musing, a cross-cultural blog. If you, unlike me and most China Internet users, have access to Twitter, you can follow World Blog Surf Day updates here. WBSD Twitter reporter Karen (Empty Next Expat) is an American expat blogger last seen in Prague. The Wall Street Journal said, “Her blog makes a fun read for anyone looking for reassurance that change can be a wonderful thing–and also for anyone interested in visiting the Czech Republic.”

SIL, Moi, Sis & Mom at Ming Tombs, Beijing 2006

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s out there,
and especially these three!

I hope the Easter Bunny brought you lots of delicious chocolate… He didn’t even bother stopping by here, but that’s okay cuz I’m cutting sugar out of my life. Buds and blossoms are out like crazy here and it is getting warmer by the day.

Pretty in Pink

Pretty is as pretty does

Pretty as a flower

Abandoned and dejected?

Looks like the Grinch forgot one of the Who’s trees… in the first floor stairwell of my apartment building in Linyi, China.