Tag Archives: Roman Candles

Happy Chinese New Year or Xin Nian Kuai Le

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It is 9 pm and you would think bombs were going off in Nanjing to celebrate the year of the rabbit.

Dinner was great with my colleagues.  I took the metro and bus back to my apartment.  Although I still had to walk three blocks, the entire way I dodged fireworks.  Just imagine you are in New York City, only four times the size and every 3rd store, someone is out front lighting fireworks, roman candles and any thing that goes boom, buzz, whiz, and bang!  I was running around them, put my hat on, didn’t know if they would blow up over my head.  The amount of red paper trash and ash is unbelievable.  Andy, Casey,  Randy, Sam where are you, we could go shoot  bottle rockets off the roof of my apartment?  It’s legal!

I did get a Chinese text today from the government to be careful and not start a fire with fireworks.  My neighbor read it to me!  This is the best fire works show ever.  It is non-stop.  Everywhere I look there are fireworks.  This is better than any fireworks show CCCCD ever had!  One gigantic roman candle just exploded right out my bed room window.  I was like all over it, hanging out my balcony window.

Now it is 12:30 and it is still going.  At midnight it was like a war!  My apartment complex set off  those giant exploding dandelion-like balls in the courtyard which shot up to my 28th floor and exploded only ten feet from my glass enclosed balcony.  The sound was deafening, the smell like an arsenal went off and the entire building shook.  I loved it!  Now the town is filled with smoke, car alarms are going off, I hear an ambulance  and I just saw a fire truck rush by.  This was the best Chinese New Year’s ever.

Michael Bolton is a hit in China! Ha, ya’ll!

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October 7, 2010

Up at 6:30 am, I can never sleep in.   A Latte is in order, using a coffee filter, tea strainer and IKEA frothier with my S.I.T. ground coffee, I whip up a strong one.  Today I think I will look out the upstairs balcony window.  Across the way is a young man pacing on his roof top terrace with a book in hand.  I saw him yesterday morning doing this.  Is he studying for a test?  SAT exams are coming up.  They are not offered in China. High school seniors planning to go to college abroad or in America will need this test for their application.   Students travel to Hong Kong to take it on October 8th and 9th.  The flight is over two hours, I can imagine the expense.  I look further down to the courtyard and there are twelve people in three rows doing Tai Chi.  That looks easy so I stand up in my purple night gown and brown fuzzy knee length robe and begin to follow the movements.  This is interesting, the movements give the impression of slowly moving your prana around and then there is a quick movement to push it off of you.  I like this.  It might get rid of bad spirits.  Although I moved half way around the world you would think I had gotten away from the bad spirits, but who knows, maybe a little Tai Chi is in order.  I brew another cup of coffee and trot back to my perch on the balcony. The class is over but two students remain practicing with red fluffy fans.  The movements are fluid and almost hypnotic.  This is quite enjoyable to watch, much better than TV.

Alice called last night while I waited on wedding fire crackers to explode and wanted to meet in the center of the city to listen and buy some music.  I hailed a taxi and off I went.  The city is different at night, with all the lights and many people bustling around.  I meet her at a foot bridge and we walked to a side street and into a CD shop.  Sawyer is there chatting with the owner, they are friends.  We look at music and it seems the Chinese are in love with some of my favorite music from 90’s.  Michael Bolton, Celine Dion, and Kenny G are their favorites.  To all of my art teacher friends, Mr. Garrott, Miss Gilly and Mrs. Arago you put up with my Michael Bolton posters and music, guess what they are hits here and now!  Ha, I told you this was good music.  Now a whole country loves them too!  I ended up with some old Beatles, Hall and Oates, Norah Jones and Sheryl Crow for 15RMB each.  The discussions centered on what Americans listen to now.  I had to break it to the shop owner Bolton is no longer a big hit in America.  Americans move on to newer musicians and melodies.  He just couldn’t believe me!

We walked down the street and there were night vendors set up on the sidewalk.  I checked out burlap looking shoes, PJ’s and then my eye went to some old Chinese art books.  Ah ha, a find!  I ended up with two, one on Ceramics and the other on paintings.  They are fabulous, colorful and of course in Chinese.  But art is universal, who needs words?

Someone is shooting fireworks this morning, I can’t see where they are coming from in the daylight, bummer.  I woke up about 1 am hearing a huge display of Roman Candles go off.  In a variety of colors and array of lights, it was like a dandelion explosion.  Then a phone call from Possum Kingdom followed.  My realtor is renewing my property contract in the Hills over PK.  Anyone interested in two acres overlooking the lake?  It is too far for me to vacation!