i feel it in my fingers
the cold, that is. it is SO cold over here. dee, you should feel bad you didn't stick more winter clothes into that suitcase you, ma, and daddy sent over with jiujiu...:-P all that underwear is doing me absolutely no good now! as it is, because i have very little winter clothing, i've been wearing the same sweatshirts for days on end. my students probably suspect that i have some sort of fetish. it's getting disgusting (although, you know, i do change my undershirt!) and do laundry on a regular basis. i'm spending the majority of my salary on chinese lessons (i have four a week for 1 1/2 hours each time, check it!) and travel. ah, well. worse things have happened, and my chinese tutor has promised to take me shopping at some places that have bigger clothing. i can't wait to be back in a country where i am a normal size!!
speaking of students, i think that they're a bit afraid of my liberalness. for one, i'm perfectly comfortable talking to them about sex and sexuality. for another, i'm all about people having rights. i told them i was perfectly okay with homosexual marriages, and one of my students raised her hand and said, "well, diana, what would you do if your son/daughter was in that situation?" i responded that i hopefully would stay openminded enough to support whatever decision that s/he would make, but i still think that they didn't believe me. carmen told me flat out that i was probably okay with it but wouldn't be if someone i loved was a homosexual trying to get married. we'll see, i guess:) just wait and see. it was an interesting class--i got to see firsthand how uncomfortable and giggly the topic of sexuality made them, even the most liberal of my students!
i had 2 chinese lessons today, and during my cantonese lesson, my tutor and i started talking about lucky and unlucky numbers. in cantonese, four and fourteen are terrible numbers. "four" sounds a lot like death, and "fourteen" means "will certainly die." but get this--13 is a lucky number because it means that you will certainly have children and be fruitful. eight is lucky because it sounds like wealth, and nine signifies longevity. different combinations of numbers mean different things--my tutor's phone number is a combination of 2's (meaning easy, properly enough! those of you with bdays on the 22 are doubly easy...ha), eights, and nines. she told me whenever people see her number, they totally flip.
so i became curious as to the origins of 13 as an unlucky number and for Friday the 13th as an unlucky date in our society. here's what i found online:
There are many different theories about the origins of 13 as an unlucky number. Tracing the superstitions back, the earliest theories claim that in ancient religion, Valhalla, the home of the Gods, had twelve guests at a feast and a thirteenth, the God of Deceit, turned up uninvited. Others believe that the 13 started with witches' covens having 12 members, making 13 when the devil appeared at satanic ceremonies (tori, i'll bet you're lovin' this, huh?:)), although this may have been an attempt by the church to discredit witches as, prior to Christianity, 13 was considered a sacred number, representing the 13 moons of the year.
For Christians, 13 was the number at the Last Supper when Judas betrayed Jesus. It is also claimed that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden on a Friday, Noah's flood started on a Friday and Christ was crucified on a Friday so it is likely these days and numbers combined were given the sigil of bad luck.
at least Adam and Eve had the weekend to cope, right?
speaking of students, i think that they're a bit afraid of my liberalness. for one, i'm perfectly comfortable talking to them about sex and sexuality. for another, i'm all about people having rights. i told them i was perfectly okay with homosexual marriages, and one of my students raised her hand and said, "well, diana, what would you do if your son/daughter was in that situation?" i responded that i hopefully would stay openminded enough to support whatever decision that s/he would make, but i still think that they didn't believe me. carmen told me flat out that i was probably okay with it but wouldn't be if someone i loved was a homosexual trying to get married. we'll see, i guess:) just wait and see. it was an interesting class--i got to see firsthand how uncomfortable and giggly the topic of sexuality made them, even the most liberal of my students!
i had 2 chinese lessons today, and during my cantonese lesson, my tutor and i started talking about lucky and unlucky numbers. in cantonese, four and fourteen are terrible numbers. "four" sounds a lot like death, and "fourteen" means "will certainly die." but get this--13 is a lucky number because it means that you will certainly have children and be fruitful. eight is lucky because it sounds like wealth, and nine signifies longevity. different combinations of numbers mean different things--my tutor's phone number is a combination of 2's (meaning easy, properly enough! those of you with bdays on the 22 are doubly easy...ha), eights, and nines. she told me whenever people see her number, they totally flip.
so i became curious as to the origins of 13 as an unlucky number and for Friday the 13th as an unlucky date in our society. here's what i found online:
There are many different theories about the origins of 13 as an unlucky number. Tracing the superstitions back, the earliest theories claim that in ancient religion, Valhalla, the home of the Gods, had twelve guests at a feast and a thirteenth, the God of Deceit, turned up uninvited. Others believe that the 13 started with witches' covens having 12 members, making 13 when the devil appeared at satanic ceremonies (tori, i'll bet you're lovin' this, huh?:)), although this may have been an attempt by the church to discredit witches as, prior to Christianity, 13 was considered a sacred number, representing the 13 moons of the year.
For Christians, 13 was the number at the Last Supper when Judas betrayed Jesus. It is also claimed that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden on a Friday, Noah's flood started on a Friday and Christ was crucified on a Friday so it is likely these days and numbers combined were given the sigil of bad luck.
at least Adam and Eve had the weekend to cope, right?