Word of Wisdom: Home
At home we are treated best, and yet we complain the most. ~ Unkown ~
All posts filed under: Blog
Of Lunches and Other Evils
The story goes as this: In our existence as foreign faculty, we get to enjoy a couple of blessings. One of these blessings is that we get our meals served for free, three times a day, buffet style. (Though others might consider it a curse, especially those who don’t like the food being served, which – generally speaking – are a lot of people.) Well, the thing is that during the winter break, things change quite a bit. For one, instead of three meals, we only get two meals at considerably odd hours (mid morning and late afternoon). What’s even more tricky is when evil forces try to interrupt this delicate cycle of meals. As it happened just this morning. A blackout was the evil force that tried to meddle with our meal times. A blackout which was caused by a villain called “broken-pipe-in-the-kitchen” who had caused serious damage and a river to run through one of the big kitchens (literally). So, with the intentions of repairing the damage, other forces had set out to …
A Bag Full of Hearts
It is a fact well-known that wedding guests are expected to bring gifts for the bride and bridegroom. What is less well-known is the fact that here in these parts of the world, it’s also expected of the bride and bridegroom to give gifts to their guests. Much like a birthday party for kids in the West. I, for one, didn’t know that part of a wedding yet, and found myself surprised at the bag full of hearts (filled with treats) I was given when I was taking leave from our hosts (the bride and bridegroom) the other day. And surprised at the huge box filled with even more expensive healthy snacks they expected me to take home with me. So, I ended up going home with a lot more than I had come (though, of course, money – the expected gift for weddings – is much easier to carry than a whole lot of snacks and a bag full of hearts)! Now, I’ve learned a new thing about weddings, and about a bunch of …
Back to My Studies
Being on winter break doesn’t at all mean I’d ever get bored. These days, for example, my studies have begun again, which means for the rest of this year, life will be extra busy as I’m trying to finish my degree. But looking at the bright side of it, I really can’t complain of being bored ever! I makes me wonder sometimes, would I try to fit in more in one day, if the days were longer?
More on Snow
Let me tell you more about snow, because we had more snow again. That day we went to that wedding, it snowed again. But as always, winter’s giving me a hard time, teasing me about getting up my hopes for a real snow adventure, but in the end, it’s just another layer that barely covers the ground. Oh, how I miss those snowy days from home, sigh. I’ll have to take comfort in the snow pictures my mom is sending me from home these days. I guess that is as good as it gets!
At Last! Those Christmas Cards!
I know, the sending of my Christmas cards has taken quite a bit of space on my blog these last two months. But guess what I just found out! They arrived! My Christmas Cards arrived. After almost two months, and after I’d already given up all hope and thought all was lost. Of course, they’re too late for the season, but at least they did arrive at last (though it makes me wonder what took so long again this time). Last time I sent Christmas cards, they arrived after 10 days (which I thought was fast), so I’d thought three weeks would be plenty of time for them. But I guess, after having thought all that work of creating those cards had been in vain I’m not complaining. At least they did arrive at last!
With This I Thee Wed … or Something of the Likes
I told you that I was going a friend’s wedding this weekend, and here’s the proof! And since we’re talking of weddings, it reminds me: have I ever told you about weddings in this corner of the world? Well, one thing I can assure you – they’re very different from a German wedding, or any other Western type wedding for that matter. For one, they’re usually over by around 2, 2:30 pm in the afternoon. But of course, they start earlier. The real ceremonial part takes place early in the morning (about 6 am) in private, in the bride’s home (without the family of the bridegroom), and the official part is just all about giving exchanging presents (yes, the couple is required to give presents to the parents, but then they also receive the present of an apartment and a whole lot of cash by the parents of both parties). Anyhow, the main part is the big lunch meal, and then everyone disperses, bride and bridegroom change, go home and spend the rest of the …
Word of Wisdom: Snowflake Kisses
Snowflakes are like kisses sent down from heaven. ~ Unknown ~
Of Train Rides and Such
Traveling by train in China is a very peculiar thing. The first challenge you’ll have to master is obtaining a train ticket, which can get really tricky. On that part, I was lucky this time, because my friend booked our tickets online, so I didn’t have to bother about it. It was also unlucky, however, because the only train tickets he could get was tickets for an overnight train, and I never sleep well on trains. It further was unlucky, because my name doesn’t go well with the Chinese system, and however that worked out, but as soon as we’d gotten on the train, someone had figured there was something fishy about us. Because we hardly had sat down, when a train officer stopped by to check about the names on our tickets. (Now note: the average train ticket doesn’t have a name on it, and ours only did, because my friend had booked it online.) The problem was that the name on the train tickets (which were the correct names according to us) were …
On the Road Again
Guess what! This weekend one of my friends is getting married, and for me that means getting ready for another trip. It also means that I’ll be heading out some time this afternoon and I’ll be spending the night on a train. That in turn means it’s something I’m not quite looking forward to. Trains and nights and me don’t usually match well together, which also means that I’m about to experience a very tiring weekend. But at least it’s a wedding, and I’ll get to see one of my friends again, whom I haven’t seen in a long time. That counts for something, doesn’t it?