It is funny Halloween is one of my least favorite holiday's (I don't like to wear costumes) but I seem to have a lot of memories of it. Most of which are good.
Such as my first Halloween where I lost all of my candy because the rain made a hole in my paper bag. So my father took me around again and told all of our neighbors my sad story. Everyone felt so sorry for me that they gave me so many treats, I ended up with twice as much as everyone else.
Then when I went to college at Ohio University, the biggest celebration of the year was always their annual Halloween street party. My first few years, at OU, the school sponsored party and the students came up with some of the most imaginative costumes I have ever seen. Even I wore a costume. Although my costumes tended to be more practical than imaginative, such as dressing up as Tom Joad from the Grapes of Wrath, so I could wear something warm and comfortable.
Now, in Nanjing some friends of mine, Jack and Snow invited me to a Halloween party at their apartment complex. Jack and Snow are great; they are very personable and they put on a real treat for the kids and their parents. I had a great time.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Nanjing Car Show
A Nanjing friend of mine Li Yongjun asked me if I wanted to go to an auto show in the Nanjing Exhibition Hall on Sunday. I have to admit I am not much of a car buff but I have been curious about the exhibition hall. Plus Li Yongjun wanted me to meet his friends. So I went and had a good time. The strangest thing was all of the attention the models got. But I had more fun watching the audience and in the end I got my picture taken with my favorite model. Well she wasn't really an official model.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Chinese Wedding
Jack and Snow two teachers here at JIETT invited me to their wedding, which took place on Tuesday. I enjoyed it. They said it was a traditional wedding but I think the tradition part a is a fairly new tradition. The ceremony was part US style wedding, part banquet and part variety show.
The US part had Snow wearing a white dress similar to a US wedding and Jack wearing a tuxedo. But Snow also changed her dress twice to a blue dress and a pink dress. Snow looked beautiful in each outfit, which by the they rent in China. I think Snow was the most comfortable with the whole event. Jack looked a little nervous. Maybe because here in China the groom foots the bill.
The variety show part included a mix of friends and professional performers. Yes Jack cornered me into singing a song (by the way I am NOT a good singer). Which went well I think because I choose the song Wonderful World and I was accompanied by a recording of Louis Armstrong singing the song. Unfortunately I had practiced the song in a different key. Luckily the recording was played too loud and people said they could not hear me. That was good because no one could tell I spent half of the song trying to find the right key. Sorry Louie.
To get to the wedding the guests from Nanjing took a bus to Yangzhou, Jack's home town. We had a lunch and dinner banquets there. As usual the food was plentiful and delicious. Both meals featured Yangzhou's famous fried rice at the end. In many Chinese restaurants when you have lots of people at a table the food is put on a large glass lazy susan and the wait people bring out an endless supply of food, stacking course on top of course. If you don't like one course just wait a second and the wait people will bring something else.
We left for Yangzhou at 7:00 in the morning and got back at 10:00 at night. between meals there was a long wait so one of the Chinese teachers Jerry the other US teacher and I on a tour of Yangzhou's sight. The highlights were a rickshaw ride in the Old City plus a head and shoulder massage. Which I needed after a lot of walking and a bumpy rickshaw ride.
All in all it was a good day.
Rickshaw ride, yeehaa.
The Wedding!
The US part had Snow wearing a white dress similar to a US wedding and Jack wearing a tuxedo. But Snow also changed her dress twice to a blue dress and a pink dress. Snow looked beautiful in each outfit, which by the they rent in China. I think Snow was the most comfortable with the whole event. Jack looked a little nervous. Maybe because here in China the groom foots the bill.
The variety show part included a mix of friends and professional performers. Yes Jack cornered me into singing a song (by the way I am NOT a good singer). Which went well I think because I choose the song Wonderful World and I was accompanied by a recording of Louis Armstrong singing the song. Unfortunately I had practiced the song in a different key. Luckily the recording was played too loud and people said they could not hear me. That was good because no one could tell I spent half of the song trying to find the right key. Sorry Louie.
To get to the wedding the guests from Nanjing took a bus to Yangzhou, Jack's home town. We had a lunch and dinner banquets there. As usual the food was plentiful and delicious. Both meals featured Yangzhou's famous fried rice at the end. In many Chinese restaurants when you have lots of people at a table the food is put on a large glass lazy susan and the wait people bring out an endless supply of food, stacking course on top of course. If you don't like one course just wait a second and the wait people will bring something else.
We left for Yangzhou at 7:00 in the morning and got back at 10:00 at night. between meals there was a long wait so one of the Chinese teachers Jerry the other US teacher and I on a tour of Yangzhou's sight. The highlights were a rickshaw ride in the Old City plus a head and shoulder massage. Which I needed after a lot of walking and a bumpy rickshaw ride.
All in all it was a good day.
Rickshaw ride, yeehaa.
The Wedding!
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