the mid-autumn festival.

To be completely honest, I don't have a lot of experience celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. I grew up in mostly non-Chinese areas, and for some reason my family didn't place as much emphasis on this holiday as we did with other Chinese celebrations, such as the Lunar New Year.

Now that Ben and I are our own new family, we'll definitely be making the Mid-Autumn (or Zhōngqiū) Festival a big deal in the Kortlever holiday lineup. Because it's super awesome! Here's why:

1. Mooncakes.
They taste like the lovechild of a lima bean and a Fig Newton (in other words, an acquired taste), but they're so cute and pretty to look at.

Ben's first mooncake! (he hated it)

2. Festivities.
Who doesn't like red and gold lanterns everywhere? And Chinese dancing? And Chinese opera? Actually, scratch that - Chinese Operas are historic, engaging and wonderful (my beloved grandfather actually wrote a few of them), and I am an avid supporter of the arts in all cultures and countries... but I do have to admit that the signature Chinese operatic sound can take some getting used to.

Chinese Opera time.

umbrella dance.

Anyway, Ben and I had a chance to check out the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival at the Crown Casino. It was fun! Lots of food, lanterns, exploding pillars of fire, and a stage of rotating performances from the aforementioned opera, to traditional dancing, and of course - cover bands.

Festival celebration at the Crown Casino

NOODLES. are for good luck.

somehow we always end up getting one of these at every festival.

random pillars of fire. I think it was a casino thing.

Angry Bird lanterns. very traditional.

3. The Bear parade.
I have no idea why there was a parade of children holding burning lanterns and chasing an animatronic bear around the casino grounds, but it was really exciting. Someday if/when we produce our half-Chinese offspring, we'll definitely make them follow in the footsteps of their ancestors and join the festive bear-hunt!

CK

new slang.

 

I often ask my new Australian friends to define phrases and slang that I am less familiar with.

"When you say 'he's such a pissa...' is that a good thing or a bad thing?" "What does 'good on ya' mean?"

I do this not to flash my "I'm an American!" card at every opportunity (although this is usually what I end up doing anyway), but because I have had some Very Bad Experiences assuming that certain things mean something entirely different from the original intention.

Here's one of them.

Many many years ago, I went out on some casual dates with a very nice, very opinionated man. He talked authoritatively and in-depth about all sorts of things - politics, religion, classes, music - and I always felt at a loss for words during our dates. I really wanted to express my opinions too, but I never knew enough about anything to feel comfortable joining the conversation. Until one car ride home:

"Chemistry is the bane of my existence!" he was saying, and went on to talk a lot about his Chemistry class.

He had a way of speaking so passionately about everything that I couldn't tell if he loved or loathed whatever he was raving about. So I usually just went along, nodding thoughtfully. This time, I assumed that he was talking about something he loved. A lot. So much that it was the core of his being, something he couldn't live without.

"Anyway, enough about Chemistry," he glanced at me, pulling up to a stop light. "What's the bane of your existence, Candice?"

We both attended a Christian college. We both grew up in Christian households. So I went with the Sunday School answer.

"Jesus." I said.

"...what?" he stared at me.

"Jesus!"

"What??"

"Beep!" said the car behind us. The light was green.

"You're not serious..?" He was focused on the road now.

I nodded my head defiantly. I was going to defend my response, stand my ground, final answer.

He said nothing. He was finally the one at a loss for words! I was ecstatic.

We never spoke of the incident again. Probably because he had forgotten it, as he was now talking about some other class or concert or congressional bill. We broke up soon afterwards (not due to this conversation, but in retrospect I'm pretty sure it didn't help!).


A year later, I was studying in my dorm room when my roommate threw the door open.

"BIOLOGY IS THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE!" she roared, dropping her books on the couch.

"You say it like it's a bad thing," I looked up at her, very puzzled. "or... is it?.. oh no... what does 'bane of my existence' mean?"

"It means that you hate something. A lot. With the fire of a thousand suns."

 Oh.

"Is there any possible way that it could potentially mean something else? Anything else?"

"...not really."



So, apologies to all my new Australian friends - if I keep asking you to define words, phrases, and pop culture references, I'm not trying to be any more of a nuisance than I usually am.

I'm just trying to avoid repeating new slang in inappropriate contexts.

And also, committing blasphemy.

CK

docklands, in the wintertime.

It's now Spring in Australia (finally)! I've been slacking on the blog posts - so here are some leftover pictures from the end of the winter season.

Docklands, as it turns out, is a pretty fun place to be in the wintertime. The city installed some awesome (but temporary) art around the neighbourhood - so much fun to photograph.

acting like tourists.

There was a fantastic fireworks show every Friday evening during the winter months. 

for some reason I'm really digging the blurry-firework-photos thing these days...

These sculptures have been around for a while, but we still like playing around on them:

I have a love/hate relationship with the Webb Bridge - the layout makes it hard for pedestrians and bikers to share the path, but it looks amazing.

And of course, the Docklands waterfront is always so gorgeous, especially in the mornings.

I'll miss this neighbourhood someday.

CK

frankston.

We decided to visit Frankston to watch the sunset one day. It was pretty nice.

because what would a romantic outing be without a picture of our feet?

CK