Stevo's Island at Chinese New Year 2010

My honorary daughter came to visit last weekend, a rare occurrence. I can thank the school break for Chinese New Year. Island, or Ellen as she says her name is now, was my student when she was a fresh-faced Grade 1. Now in Grade 3, we visit each other from time to time.

We live in the same community but that doesn’t mean we’re together every weekend. Chinese school kids have a schedule that rivals that of a CEO. When school is finished for the day there are tutoring sessions in math, Chinese calligraphy, compositions, English, and then piano lessons, dance, kung fu, etc. Evenings and weekends are booked solid.

I saw Island four times this past school term. I think I could make an appointment with the president of china easier than I can with Island and her scholastic commitments.

She came to our apartment for a  couple of hours of origami, television and PB & J. She was decked out in her Chinese New Year finery. Wearing new clothes is another custom of Chinese New Year.  A fun time, I wish I could see her more often.

Sunrise in Hong Kong

What it’s been? A couple of months?

I’m back. Sort of.

Where have I been? Here and there. Everywhere and nowhere.

After 3.5 years of blogging I was a little tired. Seeing what some bloggers had done in the name of making a buck made me sad. Tired and sad, I opted for a little time away from Asian Ramblings and the travel blog scene.

That and I’ve turned a page or two in the book that is my life. A whole new chapter, you might say.

• A new job, as I mentioned previously. Out of the classroom and into the boardroom.
• We (Mrs. Stevo and I) bought a condo. I have been busy rolling in plaster dust and trying to remember the cuss words my father was fond of saying while doing DIY projects.
• Mrs. Stevo is expecting. That’s right, there’s a bun in the oven. The stork is circling. I’m happy and frightened.
• I’ve taken a shot or two since I last posted here. I’ve been playing around with black and white.
• Asian Ramblings has been nominated again for the Bloggies. Head on over and vote for your favorite blogs.

That’s all for now. I’ll be around with a story or a photo to share as time permits.

The start of things always sets me back: It use to be the start of a school year or term. So much to do, so little time. Now it’s a “real” job (there are some who believe that teaching overseas is not a real job. News Flash: It is.). A desk covered in cameras, flashes, and odds and ends, emails, blog posts, memos, instructions, and a hard drive full of JPEGs.

My posts here have been erratic. I’m not only trying to transition to a new career but this place too. I have no new humorous classroom tales, no stories of drunken foreign teachers, no deep insights. But, I can tell you about the AV/USB jack on the new Canon 7D.

Some random tidbits instead of anything meaty:

1) I now have hot water in my second apartment. Drawback: I have to stand with one foot on either side of the “squatter” to shower. A small price to pay for a hot shower. I had a blog post written about my DIY shower project, to avoid the “shower in the bucket.” I waited too long to post.

2) I also have a fridge. Now I have the ability to keep beer cold instead of drinking it right after buying it.(Come on, like that will happen.) I may use the empty fridge box to build a fort of some kind.

3) I’ve gone back to the gym after a one month absence. Pain is now my constant companion.

4) In an average week I am fed six pounds of rice over three days at the factory cafeteria. (That estimate is conservative.)

5) My translator/assistant is a fresh-faced 22-year-old. She stands too close to me and makes me uncomfortable.

6) One of my co-workers has an infectious laugh. Imagine Eddie Murphy’s laugh, combined with Helium and crystal meth.

7) My Chinese has expanded beyond vulgar things to say to wayward taxi drivers.

8 ) When I use to work until 8:30 pm I dreamed about a job with normal hours. Now, I’m incredibly bored and go to bed early.

9) I don’t like sleeping alone. My stuffed pig was lost in my last move.

10) I’ve watched both seasons of True Blood and am upset I have to wait for more.

11) My battle discussions with Mrs. Stevo about getting a dog are not progressing well.

12) To kill the time I’ve considered having a Qipao (see photo at right) tailored and taking a series of self-portraits in drag.

13) I thank the universe for Facebook and Twitter although I really hate both of them.

14) The Chinese dentist I went to was 1000-times better than any dentist I ever saw in Canada. I can’t say the same for the doctors.

photo credit: Marc van der Chijs

The Stevo's were married October 3, 2006.

It was three years ago today that Mrs. Stevo and I had our wedding reception. We were married the July before at the registry office: That happens in China – months (or years) between the civil ceremony and the reception. Mrs. Stevo thinks the reception is the proper occasion to commemorate. I disagree, but my thoughts on the matter aren’t important.

October 3, 2009 means three things, a strange convergence of lives, the lunar calendar, and past events. Our wedding anniversary, Mid-Autumn Festival, and the anniversary of the death of Mrs. Stevo’s grandfather (she thinks he died on this date so she would always remember him).

One day, three events. ‘Tis a strange world sometimes.

Asians around the world are preparing to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival aka the Moon Festival. September 14 will be the date for the 2008 festivities. The festival is popular in China, Vietnam, Korea, and other east-Asia nations.

I’ve talked about other Chinese holidays (Seven-Seven and the Dragon Boat Festival). The Mid-Autumn Festival originates from a folktale about a rabbit, an archer and his beautiful wife, immortality, and celestial bodies.

This is no simple holiday, like Christmas. There’s no man in a red suit giving you presents. It’s complicated stuff; you need Cliff’s Notes to keep the characters straight. Luckily, dear reader, you have an intrepid journalist deep in the heart of (south) China, willing to go to any length to get the skinny on this fête.

…there was an immortal named Houyi, part of the court of the Jade Emperor, the King of Heaven. Before they wed, Houyi’s lovely wife Chang’e, had been an attendant to the Queen Mother of the West (the Emperor’s wife).

Houyi the archer and Chang'e the lady on the moon.

The immortals, probably because they had little else to do (and bowling had yet to be invented) liked to squabble. Houyi somehow aroused the other immortals’ jealousy. Being petty, they slandered Houyi before the Jade Emperor. He and Chang’e were banished from heaven. The couple lived upon the earth and hunted to survive. Houyi became a famous archer.

In the days of yor, 10 suns circled the earth, a different one each day. Then: Catastrophe. All 10 suns appeared in the sky the same day. The earth was a mess. Crops were scorched, people received nasty burns (SPF ratings, like bowling, had not been invented yet) and without the invention of electricity there wasn’t a cold Coke in sight.

China’s Emperor Yao commanded Houyi to shoot down nine of the 10 suns, lest The Middle Kingdom be destroyed. Houyi, skilled bow-and-arrow dude that he was, complied and shot the fiery balls of gas from the heavens. The Emperor was pleased and gave Houyi a pill that granted eternal life, but warned the archer to fast and reflect for one year before taking it.

At home, Houyi hid the pill in the rafters and started to prepare himself as instructed. Enter Chang’e. She noticed a beam of light from the rafters and discovered the pill. Houyi returned and she swallowed the pill to mask her discovery. He wasn’t pleased, and berated her for her transgression. The pill had given her the power to fly, and that she did, into the sky. Her husband chased her until a strong wind forced him to return to earth.

Chang’e ended up on the moon. her flying powers spent. She coughed and half the pill fell from her mouth. She lived with the Jade Rabbit, that according to Chinese mythology, resides on the moon.  The rabbit, an apothecary to the immortals, was put to work trying to replicate the second half of the pill so she could return to earth.

The Jade Rabbit, resident of the moon.

Aside: There are many explanations for the rabbit on the moon. Some versions say Chang’e took the rabbit with her, another says the rabbit was already in residence, having been given a place in the moon palace after sacrificing himself for three hungry sages.

Somehow, Houyi built himself a palace on the sun. Once a year, on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month – Mid-Autumn Festival – he visits his wife, thus explaining the moon’s brightness on this day. Houyi was the yang (male symbol) and Chang’e, the ying (female symbol).

Trying to decipher this tale is difficult. In one version Houyi is a tyrant that saves the world from the suns and then takes the throne. He has his court wizards prepare a elixir of immortality so he can be king forever. Chang’e doesn’t like her husband’s despotic rule and steals the elixir so he can’t lord over his subjects for eternity. Another tale is similar to the story of Pandora’s Box.

Mid-Autumn festival is the second most important Chinese Holiday (Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year being the first). It’s a time for family reunions and a celebration of the harvest.

The food of the festival is the Moon Cake: Lotus seed paste wrapped in a thin pastry. Egg yolks or salted eggs are often the center of the cakes. It is a heavy delicacy, often eaten in small portions with tea.

From Wikipedia:
Traditional mooncakes have an imprint on top consisting of the Chinese characters for “longevity” or “harmony” as well as the name of the bakery and filling in the moon cake. Imprints of a moon, a woman on the moon, flowers, vines, or a rabbit may surround the characters for additional decoration.

Mooncakes are expensive and considered a delicacy, and production is labor-intensive and few people make them at home. Most mooncakes are bought at Asian markets and bakeries. The price of mooncakes range from $10 to $50 (in US money).

The holiday can be traced back to 1060 BCE, to the Chinese Xia and Shang Dynasties. It was during the Tang Dynasty (5th to 8th centuries) that it became very popular. With the recent change in national holidays, Mid-Autumn festival is now a day off. Previously it was celebrated but not granted “day off” status.

What do people for Mid-Autumn festival? Simple: Go to a restaurant or someone’s home. Eat a big meal, drink, and consume moon cakes. A less-than-reliable website has a different idea, it lists the following as the activities engaged in:

A mooncake - the food of Mid-Autumn Festival.

• Eating moon cakes outside under the moon
• Putting pomelo rinds on one’s head
• Carrying brightly lit lanterns
• Burning incense in reverence to deities including Chang’e
• Planting Mid-Autumn trees
• Lighting lanterns on towers
• Fire Dragon Dances

I should be Wiki’s man on the ground. That list is not entirely correct.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival. I’ll be thinking of you while eating moon cakes.

What have I been up to? A little bit of this and that. After a six week absence, rejoining the working world is a shock. I’ve mentioned the cubicle, but my job is cool. Meeting great people, shooting photos, brainstorming: It’s all good. The language barrier is frustrating at times, but not insurmountable. I learn a lot each day. Next week I will try again to hire a translator/assistant. No luck so far. Kids today…

I spent this week meeting with a European customer. We toured, ate, drank, and talked shopped and culture. Photography is universal, it’s interesting to hear other ideas and thoughts.

Little known fact: There are a lot of deaf photographers. Did you know that? At trade shows I meet a slew of them.

This past week saw my first visit to a Chinese dentist. I’ve dreaded seeing a dentist in China. I’ve never had good luck with Chinese doctors. Thoughts of seeing a dentist had me in a cold sweat and considering my mortality. As it turns out, the dentist, a man in his late 20s or early 30s, was better than any medical doctor I’ve seen in China. No laughing gas or sedatives, but he was gentle. Why it takes three visits to get a filling I am unsure.

My business cards have arrived, not for the job, but for my home studio. I ordered some more gear yesterday and hopefully it will arrive in time for me to play over the weekend.

The ultimate time-waster: I finally managed to get to Level 80 in World of Warcraft. The hours I’ve spent could have been put to far better use. But, it is a good way to chill out.

I’ve spent the last few days working as a guest admin at A Photo a Day from Planet Earth. There are some great photographers in the flickr group. Why don’t you sign up and have your work featured? Read the rules in the flickr group.

The above image is a little strobist work. The apple was cut, cored, and reassembled with a small hole in the back for the flash. Not, it’s not original but a copy of a shot already on flickr, a homage if you will. I may try something similar with other fruits and vegetables.