Full moon and festivals (part 1)

This week is the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. It is also one of the top four holidays celebrated by the locals. So, I have been trying to do some research on the customs surrounding this heavily merchandised season.

What's on the street:

Posters advertising moon cakes abound. You will find them on the walls up and down the escalators of the subway stations; on the backs of the seats in subways; and giant billboards around the city. Most are quite elegant an the images are fairly traditional.


Street vendors are selling "lanterns" for the home and for kids. Of course some of these lanterns look like light up toys kids get at the laser light shows and the night parade at Disney. You will also find tons of glow sticks and the like.


The stores are all decorated with elaborate lanterns as well. Some of these can measure three feet in diameter and are quite spectacular.

It's been quite fascinating learning about this holiday and I will share more in the next post.

Sarah's first Master's Class

Sarah is in her first Master's class today at the Flute Centre. She is performing as a demonstrator with Susan Milan, Professor of flute from The Royal College of Music in London. There are about thirty kids here and Sarah is the only non-Asian. Fortunately, she gets to second so she's getting the advantage of listening to tips on the piece from the first victim!

The class is working on a piece that they will compete against each other and other schools with in March at the Hong Kong Music Festival. While she desperately misses American competition and the youth orchestra, I know that this is a totally unique opportunity.

The "haves" and "have nots"

So many questions come up about the differences in food, clothing etc. I could probably write daily on the topic alone. Seeing how efficient I am at the first blog, maybe his will just be a post within the original for now.

Probably the oddest (but maybe smart) thing is that our water system is split between clean water and grey for the toilets. What makes it odd is that periodically we'll get a message that "there is no toilet service today" or " no potable water today for tank cleaning". So I have to plan my schedule accordingly....

So being a homeowner for so many years prior to this adventure, I can't say when the last time we were without ALL of our toilets at one time. Even when it is one John out, it would have been someone within the household's fault. Really, what are they trying to do to us?

Of course, no one in the house is affected by this inconveniences but me. You know - the one who is at home and should be doing the laundry I avoided all weekend. Oh well we can wear those socks inside out tomorrow.

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