“Time Out Beijing”, an English magazine published monthly, had several spooky articles this month since it was Halloween. The magazine interviewed two cabbies about any ghost experiences they ever had. One of them kinda freaked me out. It’s got Chinese cultural overtones, so Americans may not get the full grasp of it. Anyway, here it is (from October 2006, pg. 6 edition):

“Have you ever seen a ghost? ‘Maybe…one winter night I was listening to a radio phone-in when a cab driver called and told how one night he picked up a guy who wanted to go to a cemetery. He was wearing a raincoat even though it wasn’t raining and it had a hood that covered his face, which spooked the cabbie. When they got to the cemetery, the guy quickly handed a 100RMB note to the driver, but when he looked around to give him his change, the guy had disappeared. The driver checked around the car but there was nobody there – this freaked him out so he decided to drive home as fast as he could. When he got home his wife told him she had just had a strange dream and told him the story of the guy in the raincoat and the cemetery. The driver told her it was real and got out the note the guy had given him. But it wasn’t a real note, it was one of those notes you burn for dead relatives! The story really made my flesh creep and as soon as it finished I saw a guy in a raincoat trying to flag me down! This coincidence honestly scared me to death. I just drove past him and decided it was time to head home.’”

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First of all, I didn’t blog the fact that the “Chinese” Sonny is 1 years old. On October 27^th @ 8:18 PM (China Time), 王雄洲 had a birthday. Yeah! Unfortunately, none of my teammates remembered, even cared or gave me a gift. JERKS! Anyway, I’m not bitter. So everyone, send me a Happy Birthday!

Now, last night a couple of students took me out to eat. I met them and we got in a taxi. Siping taxis are cheap. For just 5 Yuan you can go anywhere in town basically – this is only 63 cents! The taxis in front of the school often taken students for cheap – like 1 Yuan per person (even with a full taxis). So the three of us got in and the driver said 6 Yuan. I was like “WTC?” Please! So we got out and one of my students said 小人 (xiăorén). After we got into another taxi, I asked him what he said. He said it’s northeastern slang to describe someone who wants more than they should ask for. He said it meant “to cut someone to pieces.” I had heard this term to describe people “stepped upon” during the Spring Festival, but I never heard it applied to a taxi driver. I then taught my students that the word “jerk” applied quite well.

We then went to a restaurant called 星期五 (xīngqīwŭ) which is a Chinese description of the fifth day of the week – what we would call in America Friday. So this restaurant is TGIFridays?! Anyway, we ordered fries, spaghetti, Indian beef/potato curry, and a beef pizza. It was a very good meal for a western taste bud. It was a real good fine since it was a student who told me about the place a couple of weeks ago. It had a collage of different things on the wall: wood pieces, old cans, beer bottles, nets, signs, you know, totally like TGIFridays. Hilarious!

So we talked about racism in American, marriage, the other foreign teachers, and Chinese women. It was a good time to just share since we were the only people in the whole restaurant. I had a good time with these two young men. I’d have to say they’re my favorite conversationalists.

Number of views as of this blog entry: 3627.        

Story One: Yesterday morning was really cold. I think the temp may have been in the high 30’s. When I got to class, I was “warming up” their English for class and said, “You know, I really love the cold. Do you know why?” To which a female student in the front row said, “Because you’re fat.” (Yes, true, but is that the real reason. Hmmm?) BTW: Chinese students aren’t blunt at all. J

Story Two: As I was walking from class yesterday afternoon, I saw a student walking towards me and I could tell he was going to say something. Most students say, “Hello” or something related then giggle for a quarter of a mile after walking past me since they were able to “practice” their English with a foreigner – except this guy wanted a small conversation. What was funny about our little verbal exchange was that he said (at the third sentence), “I want to make good friends with you. May I have your phone number?” (Well, if that ain’t bold!) I think it’s quite funny the little “Chinese-ism” that I hear in a day. I don’t even know this student’s name but he’s ready to make friends. Funny, eh?

Story Three: I had dinner with a friend and he asked if I enjoyed Chinese culture. I responded that I did and he said that I should go to Siping’s “mizum”. I thought “mizum” – what are you talking about. He repeated it, “mizum”. I said I don’t know that word – spell it. Well, he couldn’t. So I knew some Chinese/English translation train wreck was happening here. I continued with the conversation. Then a couple of minutes later I screamed “museum” in excitement. I had discovered the missing piece in our conversation.

Number of views as of this blog entry: 3601.

This academic year my brother graduates high school. It’s hard to think of my brother as a young man, but indeed he is. Anyway, I got pictures sent to me of his senior shots, so I thought I’d share them with the world. See the album with the same name as this blog entry's title.

Number of views as of this blog entry: 3578.

As of 12:30 AM Tuesday night, I will be on a train to Dalian. This week is a holiday in China known as the Mid-Autumn Festival. Nine other foreign teachers and I are going to my FAVORITE Chinese city. I won’t be back until Saturday morning (my time), so don’t worry if you call and I don’t answer my phone (Dad!). So below is an essay that one of our directors wrote about her experiences in China. Joanne has been in China some 20 years now.

The Great Mooncake Exchange
     Today is Zhong Qiu Jie, (lit. Mid-Autumn Festival) in China.  In colloquial terms, it's called the Moon Festival, because it's celebration coincides with the full moon.  Much like Thanksgiving in American culture, Moon Festival is a time when people want to gather with their family members.  If that isn't possible, then people gather with classmates, colleagues, and other friends to gaze at the moon and think of their distant family membes who are also gazing at the same moon.  Poets in the Tang Dynasty were prolific in their writing poems about the moon, so there's always a poem to be recited at a gathering.
     Another custom on Moon Festival is the eating of mooncakes.  It's hard to describe them exactly, but think of small, individually wrapped fruit-cakes.  There is an outer crust with a super sweet filling.  Usually they are very heavy, and laden with sugar and lard.  Not being a fan of them, they sort of remind me of sweet hockey pucks. 
     Making and eating and giving mooncakes has always been part of the celebration here, but as China's level of prosperity has increased in the past number of years, like many other things here, mooncakes have sort of become an excess.  In the weeks preceeding Moon Festival, all the stores fill up with tables selling all manner of beautifully gift-wrapped mooncakes. They are elaborately packaged, and a 6 or 8 mooncakes in a beautiful box can easily cost 40 or 50 US dollars!  The more expensive the mooncakes you give, the more face both the giver and receiver get. 
     Mooncakes must be sent to people with whom you do business. Clients send to suppliers, suppliers to clients.  Mooncakes are exchanged among colleagues.  Teachers give them to students; students to teachers.  Friends to friends; family members to family members.  It's one giant mooncake exchange.
     And as foreigners who are trying to live as acceptable outsiders, we join in.  Last night my professor and his family came to my house for dinner.  When they walked in, he gave me a nice gift box of mooncakes.  I said thanks, took them, and set them in the kitchen (it's not polite to open gifts here in the presence of the giver).  When it was time for them to leave, I gave them a box of mooncakes.  We all  laughed at the fact that we were just exchanging boxes of mooncakes.  I always enjoy my professor because of his ability to see the humor in his own society.  He joked that at the end of the day, mooncakes don't really get eaten--they just get passed around, sometimes ending up back where they started.  I said never mind, and told him that he was more than welcome to give away the box I was giving them.  He said I could give away the box they gave me (which I plan to do).
     Like many other things in a society like this that places a high value on ritual for the sake of ritual, the important thing is NOT the mooncake or the box or the value, but rather that the ritual of giving the mooncake is performed. 
     Mooncakes, anyone?

And here’s a link if you want to read a little more: http://www.chinavista.com/experience/moon/moon.html.

Oh, and one last thing, Happy Birthday, Josiah. My little brother (弟弟) turns 18 on October 3^rd!

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