The Lady in the Moon

Different cultures have different celebrations and I have discovered one I'd like to make a part of my life. The Chinese people celebrate Mid-Autumn Day. It is a day of the full moon. It is a day of the mooncakes (which are dense cakes which are given and received in abundance around this time of the year).

My favorite part of the holiday is the legend behind the lady in the moon. I have been trying to get the straight story from my students, and here is what I learned...

One day there was a beautiful woman and her husband. The husband had in his posession magical pills, which would enable him to live forever. The wife wanted to preserve her beauty for her husband and so she stole the pills from him and took them herself. But what she didn't know, was that the pills also had the power to make you fly. The consequences of her theft resulted in her flying up to the moon, where she lives to this day.

A Mid-Autumn Day tradition is to look up at the full moon and miss those you love.

Talons and the art of refusal

So...I went to the school cafeteria with some students. It was about time for it to close, so the selection was limited. The only thing I recognized was a dish we call "chainsaw chicken", which is just a bunch of chicken, on the bone, in little pieces.
After checking out the other options I asked for the "chainsaw chicken". I could tell as the chicken was scooped onto my rice that it wasn't going to be that meaty, because all I heard were bones clicking against the sides of the metal bowl. Even more unfortunately, when I looked closer at my food, I saw a chicken foot dangling on the edge of the bowl, in all its phalangeal glory. Gross! I couldn't eat it. I was terrified. So, I just ate around the chicken and talked with the girls. The End.

Just kidding. They realized that I wasn't eating the food, and then made fun of me, and pointed it out to Alli and their other friends. Then they bought me new food. We had a good laugh about it, but I made a mental note to maybe just go for rice or a drink next time, or buy the students dinner on my terms, aka. sans chicken talons.

P.S. I also saw a feather.

Vision

Vision has been defined as a picture of the future that produces passion in the present. I have been challenged to see with the eyes of my heart. Who is the Father? Who am I? Where am I now? Where am I going? Kierkegaard defines purity as, "to will one thing." Am I willing one thing? or am I willing many things, with competing loyalties? "Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things, and give me life in your ways." The moneychangers were driven out from the temple. "The indwelling is to be known. Recognize the divine ownership of your lives."-Nee "Do not listen to the voice which suggests that you live for yourself."-Fenelon I want to look back on my life and say, "I'm glad I did" not "I wish I had".
Where there is no vision, the people perish.

LuShan Mountain

if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.

On Encouragement

Sometimes you just need a big hug. Sometimes especially.

The Lazy Susan and Living in Community

I have rediscovered the lazy susan. It previously existed in my distant past, as I faintly remembered using it during taco night as a child. Now, the lazy susan serves as an important symbol in my life. In China, lazy susans are as common as chopsticks. They spin around and you pick up a few bites of food with your chopsticks. If someone needs something your favorite food may go spinning by. Your meal is directly affected by the needs and wants of others. China is a communal society. The needs of the group are more important than the needs of the individual. I am also living in community, where I am learning about the needs of others and trying to put them before my own. One day we went out to dinner with about 20 people. We sat around a
huge circular table and used a lazy susan the size of the moon. At one point the susan was spun vigorously (think Wheel of Fortune crank) and everyone just tried to grab whatever they could as the dishes went spinning by. Those with poor chopstick
skills were left hungry. I don't think that is how the community of the lazy susan is supposed to work.