J+219 Family marriage !

One of my "cousins" got married recently.
My Chinese parents insisted on celebrating in our restaurant.
There were about 200 people there... I turned up being the only one dressed up with the bride (nobody told me to take it cool..) For me marriage is a classy occasion.
A lot of guests did singing and dancing performances , my iPhone let me down half way through the dinner, no battery.

The woman in red is the bride, the man standing with the glasses his her husband. The family "cousin"

Video of my little cousin dancing:

 

J+218 Dangerous trip to the post office

I have had some problems receiving a packet so decided to make the local post office the destination of my weekly saturday walk. Oh gosh, I didn't know what I was doing.
I spent about 10 minutes looking for the post office ... It was right in front of me.. Hidden behind some dangerously bent bamboo scaffolding.. I managed to get behind and was astonished to find the office opened .. And of course crowded, hey this is China.

Story doesn't end there.
When I walked out, a lady was seriously injured. By that I mean opened head, the whole deal .. Blood everywhere. Simply because flying objects were being dropped from the sky.  I couldn't believe it.
They told me ＂快点！！出去吧！＂ , to rush out. I said " NO WAY!! Keep day dreaming! "
I told them there was only ONE WAY I was going out, and that is the BACK DOOR.!!
Oh, yes. The man gave me a special look "Insecure annoying foreigner waiting my time" , be he was clever enough to pick up I would not back off.
I can promise you, SO DANGEROUS.

I spared you the view of the accident. I hear there were two other accidents that same morning by the way.
Somehow China has a long way to go when it comes to security.

J+217 Babysitting my little brother ..

法国姐姐〜中国弟弟 play together

Every evening now, when my aunt is cooking I have to look after this little bad guy...

 

J+216 School trip to the countryside

My grade 2 (one year older) schoolmates, have gone on a school trip to the country side, this includes my sister, tang Runhan.
They are not supposed to bring mobile phones.. But from all the feedback I am getting on QQ and 人人，I assume 99% of them have done~
This trip has the goal to give them a short impression of how most Chinese people are living, I mean by this the less wealthy and lucky Chinese people. There is huge social inequality in china. Most middle school students in big cities like nanjing have no idea.
When I heard about this trip, I was quite excited at first.. Before I was informed I couldn't join them, for insurance reasons. Most people fairly consider this as "3 days in hell"
They have to pack everything. From toothbrush, to quilt, pillow, bowl, chopsticks, a lot of clothes...
Oh well. I am observing this from Nanjing, take a look at these brave hardworking 高二三中学生 。。哈哈

 

Some are getting desperate .. They have to get pretty close to the pigs over there ...

And my dear sister:

J+186 The end of spring festival ~ lantern festival (元宵节)

 

Yesterday was the lantern festival.

The weather was really bad so my family just stayed at home, as if it was a normal day. I was about to go for a lazy evening home when I suddenly changed my mind. It would have been too foolish. This is a one chance occasion. I went to Confucius temple, even though the WHOLE of Nanjing was there... Roads closed, 2 subway stations closed... All around it. I figured out running was the best way to get there!

I managed to join my friend Nicky and her mother, by some miracle !

We took a boat trip together, and enjoyed all the light shows.

 

 

 

The Lantern Festival, which occurs on the 15-th day of the First Month of the Chinese Year, marks the end of the New Year's Holiday.

Yuanxiao is the special food for the Lantern Festival. It is believed that Yuanxiao is named after a palace maid, Yuanxiao, of Emperor Wu Di of the Han Dynasty.

Yuanxiao is a kind of sweet dumpling, which is made with sticky rice flour filled with sweet stuffing. And the Festival is named after the famous dumpling.

It is very easy to cook - simply dump them in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes - and eaten as a desert.

Soooooooo good!

These are very sweet... But I particularly enjoy them at breakfast!

 

J+184 I TURNED 18.

On the 21st, I turned 18.
I had a birthday celebration diner with my best friends and their parents, and went out with my American friend late evening after that.
I celebrated it with my host family on the 22nd, at the restaurant. We had a diner all together, and my father and I symbolically drank white whine. (Their white whine is 45%... Like white spirit)
In china, when we "cheers" ,the youngest persons glass must remain under the older ones. This is tradition.

During that diner, my eyes explored the table, trying to figure out what the different dishes where. I asked about a plate of meat... They kept strangely silent, except my father who said "try try try" and handed me a piece. I started eating it, then I was informed it was dog.
Fair enough...
If you are wondering, it has a good taste, and pretty tender meat.
My sister almost wanted to cry... She refused to have some.. (Her father told her she wasn't Chinese but Japanese..)

As I ate it, the conversation continued.. When suddenly , the woman sitting next to me came out with "Oh, by the way, this is my dog"

"""""""""""""""""
I swear... I didn't know what to do.
Still chewing "her dog", I asked her :"aren't you sad? Was this your pet?"
She answered she brought it here and killed it, so we could have it for dinner.
I was speechless, wanted to burst in laughter because of the awkwardness, and wanted to cry at the same time.

J+180 SNOW IN NANJING

Today was such an amazing day.
Firstly because my Chinese sister had decided to spend the day with me, to celebrate my birthday.
Secondly because I got woken up by a phone call.. Saying "open your window and take a look!" ---- THICK WHITE SNOW. Everywhere.
This is so rare for Nanjing.
Then.... I prayed I had enough time with my sister, after school... About 30 seconds after I made that wish, my iPhone lit up> a message, saying "no school today & tomorrow"
The next minute I "Chinese twitted this", and got treated like Santa Claus!

I got the sunglasses out... The brightness was hurting my eyes!
My sister took me for the biggest hot pot meal I have ever had...