CNY: The Fireworks

“Boom”

“Bang”

“Bam”

The sounds of Chinese New Years 2010.  It is insane the amount of noise these small stature people can create.  This is the sounds assaulting my ears for the past several days and I am beginning to go a little nuts.  Have I always had a twitch in my left eye?  Why does it only happen when a I hear the “BOOM” of a firework. 

Fireworks start in full earnest about 10 minutes to midnight on New Years Eve. It has been explained that fireworks are used to chase the bad spirits away from your home/neighborhood.

Honestly, fireworks go off here several times a day.  Most days of the week I am awoken around 6am to the sounds of your basic fireworks…bang, bang, bang. These are people announcing that they are starting a new job, school, baby born in the night, went poo for the first time in several days.  You do fireworks the day you move into a new apartment to chase away bad things and make the home welcoming for your family.  The only thing they don’t seem to acknowledge with fireworks is the passing of a loved one.  That is done by burning ceremonial money and the clothing of the deceased for them to use in the “Land of the Ancestors”.

This year the weather add an interesting element to the festivities.  SNOW.  Our community may get a light dusting of snow but this was more then a dusting.  As we sat in front of the wall of windows in Catherine’s apartment on the 19th floor to watch the fireworks going off all over the city of Nanjing, we were treated to the bonus of watching a couple inches of snow fall in less then an hour.  Unfortunately add a big snow to all the smoke of the fireworks and you get very little visibility.  Not that it deterred the people out lighting to fireworks.  That continued throughout the night.  Anyone that has watched CNN coverage of the first few days of the bombings in Iraq, well, that is what it sounds like, all rolled into one night. 

I cannot tell you how seriously they take this…..I can tell you that I am 72 hours into a 15 day festival and I just had to take a Xanax to keep me from flinching every 7 or so minutes.

Chinese New Year 2010: Lion Dance

Chinese New Year (CNY) follows the Lunar Calendar which is why it does coordinate with the Western (Jan.1) New Year.  It also begins the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival in China and most of Asia.

This is the BIGGEST holiday on the Chinese calendar and the weeks prior are just as important and hectic as the actual holiday. 

You have to go buy new clothes, preferably something red.  New shoes, for us ladies a nice 4” heel. New linens, towel, pillow all on my must do list.  Oops, almost forget – must move before the festival, got the be settled so we can blow up our fireworks and new neighbors.  Haircut, got to get that done because if I don’t then I will have to wait at least 30 days or something bad is going to happen to my Uncle.  If I have enough money, I need to check into hotel to take my hot shower so I am SHINY and FRESH for the New Year.  

Many employers host pre-holiday dinners for their management teams and lower level employees receive some form of money or gift. Money is presented in the “RED ENVELOPE”.  There are rules to red envelope as a gift.  You are only  supposed to present it to staff, children or unmarried relatives/friends.  I don’t get the last one because wedding gifts are presented in the red envelope too.  Who am I to question a culture century's older then my own?

Our official CNY events started at the Jingsley Sheraton.  My friend, Bill and I call her, “our sister” Catherine is the GM of the property and invited us to watch the Lion Dancers perform.  This is a annual tradition to have the dance done throughout your business to bring in good fortune to your company. 

The dancers, in this performance there were two along with two drummers, start in the lobby and do a dance of welcome.  The Lions are always Red and Gold.  These are the two colors of wealth, prosperity and good fortune. 

The dancers are more acrobats then dancers as it takes two performers per Lion.  They do a series of jumps, rolls and bows.  This year the Lions narrowed in on Bill and Catherine and did a little in your face “good luck and Happy New Year.” I am really glad to be on the opposite side of the  room taking pictures. 

The dancers then do a routine where a stick holding a head of cabbage or a green leafy vegetable is dangled from a stick and they have to grab the cabbage with their mouths and eat the cabbage.  Cabbage is more symbolism of wealth and prosperity. Bill was the stick holder as he stretched over the second floor railing to reach the dancers.  Luck held out and he didn’t fall over…so it must work.  Right?

Next:  Fireworks….

 

Pictures of Recent Things…

 

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Muslim Stamp Emails - I take Great Issue.

 

As I currently live in Asia and I admit to being out of sync with some of the current hot topics in the US.  My source of info is from friends, family and the internet.  Occasional CNN but even that is  dribble for the most part. 

One of the emails that I have been receiving is in reference to the Muslim Holiday Stamp and asking for a protest of its existence in our “American” world. 

To use this stamp would be a slap in the face to all those AMERICANS who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors.

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of Pan Am Flight 103!

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993!

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine Barracks in Lebanon !

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Military Barracks in Saudi Arabia !

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the American Embassies in Africa !

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the USS COLE!

REMEMBER the MUSLIM attack on 9/11/2001 !

REMEMBER all the AMERICAN lives that were lost in those vicious MUSLIM attacks!

Pass this along to every Patriotic American that you know and get the word out!  Honor the United States of America !

Really.  I love you – those of you that sent me the email and I respect your right to feel what you feel.  I just honestly wish that we as Americans were able to look at what this is saying and realize that it is a GROSS injustice to the Muslim people and to our own country and faith. 

I feel it is very narrow minded to think that a group of radicals, fanatics, freaks condemn one of the largest religious groups on the planet.  Not just the middle east or Mediterranean but the WHOLE PLANET. 

I did some research on this stamp (which by the way, the photo is not the stamp released by the USPS notice Zazzle.com) and it was originally released prior to 9/11.  It is a short term release to honor  Muslim holidays: the end of Ramadan and the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims do not celebrate Christmas, this is a Christian Holiday.

I have many Muslim friends and I know that I am very ignorant to many aspects of their faith.  This is what I do know…they are the most generous and loving people.  They are fantastic parents and great coworkers. They don’t have an easy way of things, specially in today’s hostile world. MUSLIM AMERICANs.  You can be both and to say that the only holiday’s allowed to be recognized is Christian holidays is just, well, frankly, UNAMERICAN.

The Muslims do not recognize Christ as the Son of God just as the Catholics don’t recognize The Book of Mormons as religious scripture.  Baptist see the statues and icons of the Catholic/Orthodox as idol worship.  

 Every religion has its KOOKs.  Take a moment to think of the “Witch Trials” of Europe and America.  Take a moment to think of the raiding of Jerusalem and the Holy Land in the name a British King, to save a the religious rites from the heathens.  The Missionaries that settled (raped/enslaved/stole) from Africa, India, Australia, etc.  it's rather a large leap from there to blaming all Muslims and the Islamic faith in general for those atrocities. The present Turkish government has limited the ability of the Orthodox to practice in one of the oldest Antiochian churches on the planet.  Turkey = Constantinople. 

Anyone can take a religion and make it into a weapon.  My choice is to NOT define a group by its fanatics.   All white people are evil because we have the highest ration of serial killers? 

I am a proud American.  I am a Military Brat, I was active duty for several years, I am American.  I proudly tell people I am American as I am traveling around Asia (well, unless I am behaving badly then….I am Canadian). 

Please take a moment and look at what you are sending to people before you forward it. I am proud of what America is and hope for her to continue to evolve but narrow minded, dare I say, uneducated information sent out does nothing to make her stand tall in today’s mass media feed society.

The Lost Art of Courtesy

(Disclaimer:  The following may be offensive to some. If you think you recognize yourself in the following, please be aware that I may have been talking about you.  Everyone one of the following incidents are real and represent real people.)

I am on a rant this morning.  High and holy foul rant.  For the sake of my loved ones I am going to give you the PG 13 version of my mindset. 

What happened to Courtesy?  I mean really with all the gizmo’s and gadgets that are available to the modern public, how freaking difficult is it to take a few seconds out of  your life to call, text, IM, email, snail mail, Facebook, Tweet or whatever the new method of communication that is starting NOW. 

I am so fed up with the lack of courtesy. 

Recently I had sent a text to someone that I was trying to coordinate an event for later in the day.  The text clearly stated, call and let me know what time.  I know that people are busy and well, sometimes the CALL is just too much possibility for time consumption.  A text or alternate form of communication would be perfectly acceptable.  We are not “breaking up'” or there hasn’t been a death or tragedy so a lighter form of communication is perfectly within reason.  The key here is communication in any form.  So I being Party 1 wait for Party 2 to COMMUNICATE.  I got nothing. 

This scenario though frustrating is minor but seems to be a reoccurring one.  This event was insignificant and will or will not take place.  No one will DIE if it doesn’t.  What got my dander up is that I feel like the simple Courtesy of Communication is lost to society.  In the fast pace “go get ‘em” culture that we live in, basic courtesy seem to a bygone art.

The lack of the courtesy call is probably one of my biggest pet peeves.  If you are running late – call.  If you are going out with the boys and not coming home till 3am – call.  If you are bring 5 extra people to dinner instead of one – call.  Be it husband, plumber, property manager, best friend, cable guy, cleaning lady, deliver person, tailor – CALL.  I understand that we all have things that happen that throw us off schedule….but the minute it takes to make the call will not only allow me to alter my schedule - it will also spare you from my hours, if not days, of hostility. 

Which brings me to the Courtesy Flush, if you are over the age of puberty, you know when Mother Nature is going to turn your body into a Southern Born, Flame Rippen, Banjo player……

OUT OF ORDER

 

I am just a bit in a funk at the moment. 

We just spent three great weeks stateside with family and friends for the holidays.  I am back in China and trying to reorient my disorientation of the Orient. 

Lots to share, making an outline of what I want to say.

Back up and running.

Bare with me and my funk.