I got to go to Hong Kong to see some of the people from South Dakota who went to MCDH on a mission trip. It was great to be able to see a few people from back home, and to chat for a short while!
I got the opportunity to attend a Chinese wedding! The couple was very beautiful, and I was blessed to be able to share the union of their lives! Now, the wedding is not the same as in our culture. They get married before the wedding. They go to a government building and sign their marriage paper. Then, they are officially married. Later, on a date that is the luckiest for the couple (determined by their birthdays, Chinese zodiac, and more), they have a party to celebrate their marriage and publicly declare it. The morning is full of fun as the brothers (groomsmen) and the groom must earn their way into the bride's house. The sisters (bridesmaids) come up with various silly tasks that the brothers and the groom must complete before letting the groom in to take his bride away.
The family is there with them, and the family gives the bride gifts of gold to wear at the party that evening. (speaking of wearing things: the bride will wear a traditional red dress earlier on in the day, but in the evening she wears a beautiful white wedding dress, or if not white, she wears a beautiful ball gown/formal dress.
Later that evening, the family and friends gather at a restaurant, sitting at many round tables. Upon entering, the guests give a red envelope to the bride and groom filled with money (a lucky number of money, of course! NEVER 400RMB because that would wish death upon the new couple. Numbers with 6's and 8's are good...especially the number 168, I hear, though I do not know the reasoning.) The bride and groom then process in after the guests have been seated, and they make their way to the front. At the wedding I attended, confetti was shot over them at numerous spots as they processed. They have a small ceremony in the front of the room and recite vows to each other. They bow to their families, bow to their friends, bow to each other, and thank everyone for the support--especially their parents. Then comes the food. The food comes out family style to the tables, and guests eat the food, which includes a small (but entire) pig, lots of seafood, and some chicken. Red bean soup was served for dessert, and was delicious. Here's something different from American culture--the guests can take home the leftover food from their own table--because it's served family style!
After the wedding ceremony comes a party for closer friends and younger family members. We all went out to Karaoke afterwards and had a fun time singing songs and playing games. Overall, it was a wonderful event.
I also had an opportunity to go to a friend's birthday party. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe to celebrate. (She is not from China, so wanted to eat food that was a little more familiar to her than Chinese food for her birthday)
We had a great social event called Practice Makes Perfect: more to come in my newsletter on this!
I had the wonderful opportunity to host two wonderful young ladies who I met at orientation...and they came at the same time! Hannah was here for one week (left Sunday), and Meredith {who lives in Kunming, Yunnan, China} was here for 3-1/2 days (left Tuesday). Speaking of Hannah, you may be wondering why she left after one week, when I had been talking endlessly about being excited about her coming to Macau. Well, long story short, there were some complications, which led us to the decision that Hannah needs to be placed somewhere else close to here. She will either go to mainland or to Hong Kong. Please pray for her as she makes that decision. If you want to learn more about what happened, visit her blog by clicking here. I am still very excited for her to be here, and I think that wherever she is placed, it will expand our impact here in South East China!
No comments:
Post a Comment