What a busy few weeks it’s been! Let me start where I left off.
May 29th
I went to the country with some Chinese friends that love to practice English. I remain in awe at their motivation to learn a language that they don’t use a lot (except one guy and he’s an English teacher). We ate at a “country cookin’” restaurant. The food was pretty good. We then drank tea and walked around. I loved walking around this small town (20,000 people…and let me tell you that is TINY in China). There was one roundabout and no stop lights. We stopped at one school. Right beside the school was a rice paddy field.
Peaceful, little town
The rice paddies by a school
That afternoon, we ate a watermelon. It was a great day with great people.
May 30th
Summer is nearing us. This also means the mosquitoes are too. In my “dining room”, there is a gaping space between the screen and the window. I may have to take a picture to make my point clear. The space is large enough for mosquitoes, flies, and dare I say it? Rats. It was open for a bit, and the mosquitoes just made themselves at home. They especially like my ankles (#@$ ankle biters). The mosquito that spent the night on my ankles was so full. She decided to rest beside my bed.
Mistake
Anyway after she died I got ready for my first Chinese wedding! I changed clothes so many times! I had no idea what to wear. I had to take a bus to meet my friend, Mandy, who I was going with. I was so glad Mandy invited me! She was so patient and answered all of my questions (she also included some secretive commentary during the wedding…) When we first got to the hotel, I took some pictures of the cars. A few cars were decorated. We entered the hotel, I was like, Oh there she is! Wrong. There were 2 weddings going on AT THE SAME TIME. I kept on thinking, wow this would not fly in America. Mandy steered me to her friend. She was absolutely beautiful! She wore a white gown. Her maid of honor (in Chinese weddings, there is only a maid/matron of honor and a best man…that consists of the wedding party). She greeted us, and her maid of honor gave us glitter coin key chains that had candy in them. (The best man was giving out cigarettes to the men. I think the ladies lucked out with the candy.)
We then took pictures with the bride and groom.
Mandy, the happy couple, me
At the table where another friend collected red envelopes (people bring red envelopes with money as presents instead of wrapped kitchen ware). The bride and groom had a book (note: NOT a wedding album) of pictures. It was one of my favorite things about the wedding
We then went upstairs and had hot water, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and, that’s right…candy. We waited until somebody told us it was time to go outside for the ceremony.
Our table
The bride decided to do a ½ western and ½ traditional wedding. So, we went outside. Mandy managed to snag us some seats (thank God…my feet aren’t used to wearing heels anymore!) It surprised me to see children sitting in the front row.
The balloons also threw me off a little bit. The music was pumping; people were talking. There weren’t enough seats for everybody, so I felt really lucky to get a seat.
Mandy looking for chairs
Another thing that surprised me is seeing people smoking during the ceremony. I think it’s safe to say MOST Chinese aren’t religious. I’ve never been to a non religious wedding before. For me, the main difference was the lack of a priest/preacher and instead, there was like a game show host person.
The couple with the game show host (sorry…I don’t know what I’m supposed to call him)
They also exchanged rings. They also drank from each other cups. And, they cut the cake.
The Cake
But, the game show host also had games for the audience. One game consisted of the bride throwing the bouquet. Another game was the bride and groom threw paper airplanes and whoever got an airplane got a prize from the new couple. We also untied the balloons from the back of our chairs and all released them in the sky (I didn’t pick up on any symbolism, but lots of things go over my head).
I think another notable difference is the use of a bubble maker and fire.
When the ceremony was over, we were instructed to bring in our chairs. (Again, I picture people in America throwing a fit.)
We then had a banquet. I think there were about 15 dishes on the table. A few things on the table were: duck, chicken, frog, pork, beef, fish, shrimp, and crab, along with an assortment of vegetables. There was an unbelievable amount of food. I thoroughly enjoyed myself at my first Chinese wedding.
Another difference is at the banquet; the couple has to go to each table and cheers their guests before they are able to eat. The groom “must” drink liquor, whereas the bride can choose either juice or liquor. The bride changed to a traditional red dress. And, there was no dancing. After eating, some people played mah jong; others left. What a great wedding!
The couple toasting at our table
June 5th
Sometime last week, my Chinese host sister (who is now at LSWho), invited me to her cousins wedding. I readily accepted. So, on June 5th I went to my homestay family. I have a bad track record of making it on time there (it’s an hour ½ on a good day…but a lot of times, I have gone on bad days which means 2 hours…did I mention it’s about 23 K away?) They told me 10:30 am. I knew it was imperative that we make it on time. I arrive at 10 am. But, clever them, they told me an hour early, just in case I ran into traffic.
Chinese Family (minus Wen)
The hotel for that wedding was so close (3 minute walk). We walk in and the bride is getting her hair curled. Her dress was pretty, but not gorgeous. (The other two were much prettier.) We march upstairs for the candy, peanuts, and sunflower seeds.
(I really wanted to get a picture with the bride and my Chinese mom and dad, but they wouldn’t have it. I didn’t see lots of people take pictures.) We then went the restaurant to get good sits for the ceremony (at this wedding, we sat at a table with our food…but no chopsticks and could watch the ceremony in close proximity to the food).
We got great seats. The ceremony began and so did the firework type things. The American in me kept on thinking what a fire hazard, fireworks INSIDE! But my Chinese self (aka Kang Nan) thought how beautiful! The bride and her dad walked in. The groom came in from the front and then sang a song all the way down the runway.
The happy couple
He knelt again, and then took the brides’ hand. The ceremony was nice. Near the end, chopsticks were given out. So, when the bride and groom bowed to their parents 3 times to show respect, most people were checked out of the wedding and checked into the food.
In our wedding trinkets, we got lottery tickets. I told my Chinese dad I would give him half if I won. This made him a happy man.
The couple making toasts
After lunch, we went upstairs to play mah jong.
I played a few rounds, but I was really tired. I had a long week and stayed up late trying to find my memory card for my camera. So, I told them I need to rest. No questions asked. I lay down on the couch in the mah jong room. Within 5 minutes, a lady who works at the hotel placed a towel on me. 2 ½ hours later, I was refreshed. I went to Mai’s house. We had dinner and watched a terrible movie (Don’t watch Dear John. Save your time and money.)
On Sunday, I spent my day writing exams. I am glad to report that all my exams are done.
We get next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off. But in true Chinese fashion, we have to “make up” those days. Um, what’s the point of a holiday if you have to make up the days? Something I don’t think I’ll ever understand. So, you’ll find me teaching this Saturday. I also have to give my cultural lecture Saturday night. Awesome.
I am jealous of the volunteers that are already done with school. I found out yesterday that our last teaching day is July 2 and the next week is exams. Oh boy.
My rant for the week:
I talked to the medical office in May and told them I was about out of my medicine. They said they have to order it, and it will arrive in June. It’s June. No medicine. I guess I don’t understand why they don’t have a basic medicine in stock. It seems like every transfer I talked to never had this problem (as I didn’t in Mali either).
2. I received a letter from my middle school student. It cracked me up! Here it is...
(In case you can't read the sentence: "I am very sorry for your left hand")
