Here we go again

I talked to my Aunt Donna today and things are not well in south Louisiana. Hurricane Ike took his toll on those families living south of Highway 90 in Iberia Parish, which includes my grandfather’s house.

Ike hit southern Texas, west of Louisiana. For those that are not familiar with the all encompassing threat of a hurricane, where the eye (center) hits is where you will expect the most wind damage however it is the eastern side that receives the largest tidal surge. Imagine a hurricane as a really large pissed off tornado; it is a swirling mass of wind that can stretch for miles and miles, in the case of Ike, the storm was 100’s of miles wide. As the eye was passing over Texas, the outer bands stretched over all of the southern Louisiana coastline. One would think that once the eye passes the storm tapers down, in actuality the worst part of the storm is after the eye passes. The proverbial quiet before the storm.

As most of you have seen in the days after, Hurricane Ike traveled across the US causing damage from Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Tornado's, flooding and wind damage from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. Many of you know someone that knows someone that was and still is affected by this monster storm.

Once again, my PawPaw’s house has taken on water. Not as much as Hurricane Rita brought in 2005 but still enough to cause significant damage. The house is a few feet off the ground but the water crested above that, allowing approximately 6 or so inches into the house. Damaging the hardwood floors, drywall and furniture – AGAIN. Not only did the house take on water but so did the FEMA trailer that PawPaw has lived in since 2005. Don’t get me wrong, there are 100’s if not 1000’s that are in worse shape than my family. Thankfully, Aunt Donna was able to convince PawPaw to come stay at her house if for nothing else to protect the car. The water would have destroyed his car. The car would have been completely submerged.

PawPaw has not moved back into his home since the Hurricane Rita. I believe that amount of changes that had to occur after Hurricane Rita, altered his state of familiarity. It was no longer the house that he and MawMaw had built together and lived out the remainder of her life in. It was no longer the house that they together, decorated and filled with the memories of raising their children, spoiling their grandchildren and being a strong, united couple against the world. I don’t think PawPaw knows how to move back into the house that is no longer familiar. The floor plan is still the same but the spirit of the house is no more.

I am grateful to all that are working so hard to make this event bearable. I am thankful that my family is once again safe, a little more worn but safe. I wish all of you strength to deal with the seemingly insurmountable amount of red tape that once again – you will have to face and I hope that the remainder of the hurricane season stays silent.

Going Away Party

Dan and Kanako have lived in Nanjing for two years. They are moving back to the US this week. Last friday night, they had a number of us over to their place for a final BBQ. Everyone had a great time and we will definately miss their company.

Mia, Dan and Kanako's daughter was quite entertaining. She had no less than three costume changes throughout the evening. I made Black Russians for the girls. Most of them had never tasted anything beyond beer or wine. We also introduced them to Jaiger and Redbull. Bar-B-Que and cocktails. Poker for the guys and the girls learned to play Uno. Good tunes and a good evening.

We will miss you and hope to see you again.

Porche: New Addition to the Clan

Derek won. Despite my resolve not to add any more pets to our family, especially since we are out of country - I caved. Allow me to introduce to you, Porche, pronounced as Porcha. She is about 12 weeks old and we picked her up at a local street fair. She spent the first week in hiding. I think it may have been due to the daily baths and the flea treatment she received. She was one very unhappy kitty.

I couldn't get her to come out of hiding and she being so tiny found some really good hiding places. I tried all the normal kitty calling and finally had the revelation that kittens are not called kittens in Chinese. Kitten is an American word, duh! The Chinese word for cat is Mao and for kitten is Chao Mao. Forgive the misspellings for those that actually know the correct spelling. Point is that Chinese don't go around saying "kitty kitty kitty". I tried Mao Mao Mao but doesn't work either.

Porche has been with us for a bit over two weeks now and she is starting to interact with the family. She seems to enjoy bouncing off of Bill's head around 2am. Bill does not find this so amusing. Porche is the only cat I have seen that can purr and meow at the same time - must be a China thing. I am sure it doesn't need to be said but Derek named her - not me.

Chinese Wedding: Part Two

At 6pm Bill and I went down to the lobby to meet up with Mary and the other wedding guest. The ceremony/party was held in the same hotel. We walked through the lobby into the room. The Bride and Groom were in the lobby standing under the pink balloon arch with all the ribbons and flowers. There were also numerous photos of the couple taken for their engagement on tables around the arch.
During the day the couple did a more traditional marriage celebration of with the families. I don’t understand all of it but it involved going to both the parents homes and the grandparents homes and receiving their blessing and back and forth all day. From the summary I received from the bride’s cousin the bride had five clothing changes throughout the day.
I need to explain the whole Bill going to this wedding being a big deal. In China there is a huge honor system and having your boss, especially your American Boss, attend your wedding celebration is a HUGE DEAL. It has just been in the past 20 years that the Chinese have begun to incorporate western concepts into their wedding practices and they are very proud of their modernization and ability to provide the new generations this grand celebration. Bill had made the request to put us in the back of the room so that we wouldn’t be a disruption to the activities. After the paparazzi episode earlier that evening it was definitely possible for us to be a disruption.
The bride wanted to know if Bill would like to give a speech. NO, we haven’t even decided if Bill will be allowed to even give a speech at his own daughter’s wedding.
Bill and I are escorted into the banquet area and are lead to the front of the room, table to the right of the wedding party. OMG. We are front and center of the entire room. Let the games begin. In walks the MC for the evening, yes, weddings are MC’d like a fashion show. Our MC, I decided to call him Richard since he acted just like Richard Dawson from “Let’s Play Family Feud” fame. He walked the groom to the front of the room and had him stand on the stage. Yes, an actual stage. Richard started telling stories about the groom, all in Chinese so I don’t know what he was saying but the groom was a bit embarrassed so I am sure of the tone at least. The bride is now standing at the back of the room and all the lights go down, spotlight on bride. The groom walks half way down the aisle and the bride starts walking to meet him, off go the confetti and roman candles. I guess know one got the message that flying paper and fireworks were a fire hazard, fortunately no extinguishers needed. The bride and groom then go to the front of the room and light candles. The first set of candles were a regular pyramid shaped thing and then they couple said a small “prayer” to bless their union. The second candle was vessels in the shape of a heart, the liquid ran from cup to cup but the cool thing was the liquid was some neon glowing stuff that was pink. Pink and Red are popular colors for weddings in China. The couple kisses and the wedding portion of our evening is complete.
The couple disappears for a few minutes and then the bride and groom reappear and walk to the front about two thirds of the way the groom picks up the bride and carries her to the front of the room, as an alternative to carrying her over the threshold. Then something is said about the parents and the parents of the bride and groom join together on the stage. Richard does is saying something and more laughing from the audience. The Bride gives flowers to her in laws and the groom presents flowers to his in laws. Smile, picture ops and groom sits with the family at the table and the bride disappears for another costume change.
Then the food comes out. Oh my god, the food. Plate after plate of pork, fish, chicken, turtle soup, eel soup, rice dishes, duck, shrimp – it just kept coming and coming. I lost count around 18 different dishes. Most of it was very good – minus the chicken head that ended up on Bill’s plate or when the guy sitting next to me described the eel as snake. SNAKE. I am so not that girl. Problem with so much food is that when you find something you really enjoyed it was removed from the table to make room for more plates. Oh well. The over abundance of food was a way of the family showing the guest that they were financially well off and able to support the newlyweds.
I didn’t actually get to see the bride and groom get a chance to eat a thing during the evening. As soon as the bride appeared the couple went from table to table to thank everyone for attending their wedding. At each table a couple of toasts to their union were made and then they would be off to the next table. There were 400 guests at this wedding so that alone took the couple a considerable amount of time. When they arrived at our table Bill and I made our congratulations with a bow to the parents for allowing us to join them in their children’s celebration. A toast to the couple, a toast to the Americans, a toast to family.
While the wedding party was wondering the room the MC had started the games portion of our evening. Yes, games. All in Chinese so I am not sure what all them were about, I did get the one where one would say he could drink 3 shots of rice wine, another would shout out “4 shots”, next “6 shots” and on till an older guy (you know it probably was the crazy uncle, we all have one.) said 8 shots. A hush falls over the room and all you here is the whispered “ohhhhhh”. Crazy uncle comes the front of the stage and they bring out the 8 shots of rice wine, for those of you who have not sampled this delight my best comparison is one part lighter fluid, one part black licorice and one part Robostuin, the yucky yellow one not the grape flavored one. Yumm.
Crazy uncle starts drinking – the audience is counting and some gal in her early 20’s gets on stage and helps crazy uncle finish the shots. Everyone laughs and crazy uncle receives his prize of a stuffed HELLO KITTY which he gave to the girl that helped him finish the shots.
My Cajun side did come roaring to live when they were doing this little entertainment. How funny would it have been for the white chick to stand up and say, “Hang on Pops, I see your 8 shots and raise you 2!” For those of you that can remember my tequila years (damned if I can) you know I would have done it too.
The final game of the evening was picking a number; you either heard a happy noise or a bad noise. When you heard a happy noise - you won a stuffed animal. If you heard a bad noise you won a small stuffed animal. Carnival games at a wedding, Ok. Twenty or so numbers were on the screen when it was down to two numbers, Mr. MC approached Bill. I am frozen, my brain is screaming, keep walking, and don’t make eye contact – just keep moving Richard, nothing to see here. Nope, he B-lined straight to Bill -MC Richard says something which translated to something about picking a number. Bill, Mr. Sport, says a little too loudly, “Wu.” Number 5 – can we get a drum roll…..happy noise. Bill now is the proud owner of a large stuffed rabbit. YEAH. Now go away.
The evening has concluded, MC Richard is telling everyone thank you for coming and whatever, whatever. Bill presents the bunny to Mary, the coworker who traveled with us and helped with translation. This was her first wedding too. Mary is surprised but very grateful to have the bunny, the Chinese like the stuffed animals. Bill and I make our way out of the room where the bride and groom are standing with the parents. A second round of handshaking and bowing, I lean over to tell Yolanda that she looks lovely and we are so privileged to be able to join her and her family. Bill and I wonder across the street for a bottle of wine and retire to the room.
After a fitful night of sleep, the bed was like sleeping on a rock and the air conditioning was less than sufficient. The phone rang a little after 8am. Yolanda and her husband were outside of our room. Bill and scrambled for appropriate attire and greeted them at the door. They were stopping by to present us with a gift and to thank us for attending their wedding. It was a large box of breakfast biscuits that were a traditional food for the morning after celebration. They tell us again that our attending was big honor for both of their families and that they really appreciate our joining them.
How great are these people? How much can our families learn from these people about respect and appreciation of others? Yeah, I miss the US, I miss my kids and my family and friends but I am so glad to be able to see this country and have these experiences. Oh, the drive home was just Bill and I, we managed to miss an exit and ended up a couple hours in the wrong direction. Fortunately we can read a map, because we definitely were not getting home by the street signs.

Taixing: PreWedding Festivities

Bill and I received the honor of attending a Chinese wedding ceremony this past week. The bride was Yolanda, she working in HR at Summit Nanjing, the groom doesn’t have a western name and I honestly have no idea how to spell his name. We will refer to them as the Bride and Groom.
Bill, Mary – another Chinese coworker and I drove to the Bride and Grooms home town, Taixing, which is about 2 hours east of Nanjing. Bill drove, which went well, mainly interstate style driving. When we were on the outside of the town which we were told was a small town, we were met by Mary’s Uncle to escort us to the hotel. Uncle drove like a maniac. I believe he thought he was in a NASCAR race, zigzagging through the mopeds at a crazy speed. I held my breath as Bill tried to keep up with him. We nearly ran into a man on a tryke with a full load of bricks. Bill decided that we could find our way to the hotel at a much more reasonable pace and Mary called her Uncle to tell him to slow down.
Taixing is a smaller town then Nanjing however; it is not a small town. Shorter buildings, less cars but still a million people and most of them have scooters. The only thing I can compare it to is a flea infestation or a swarm of bees. Organized chaos. The other interesting component to Taixing is that foreigners are rarely seen in the area. It is not exactly a tourist mecca. After checking into the hotel which was nice by the way, Bill and I decided to take a walk to a grocery store to pick up snacks just on the off chance (see: more than likely) the wedding food was less than yummy. We picked up some drinks and crackers and paid the cashier. People were watching us, peeking around the shelves trying to see the crazy American people. When we walked out there was an older gentleman following us, he kept repeating something, not like I could understand but he was insistent. Bill finally picked up one word, Foreigner. The old guy wanted to know where we were from.
Bill replied, “USA.”
The old guy, “USA, USA, USA” as he danced around all but doing a jig in the middle of the food court outside the grocery store.
We just smiled and walked off. Since we had some time to kill before the wedding we decided to take a stroll down a few blocks to see what else the town had to offer. Not Much! However, while we were walking we passed a construction crew working on what I can only guess to be a sewer line. It stunk like poo. I was a little startled when one of the guys came running around us and stopped a few feet in front of us while messing with his phone.
He was taking our picture with his cell phone. I glance around and realize that he isn’t the only one. We got our own paparazzi. Bizarre. So Bill and I just smiled and waved and tried to keep walking. The Chinese are now required to take Basic English in school but in previous generations no English was taught so the only word they may know is Hi and Bye. Bill and I spent the next few minutes exchanging hellos and byes with several grown men and finally were able to return to the hotel as the sounds of men giggling faded in the background.