I can't wait
to tell you about my days in China. Originally, I was going to update when I get home next week, but I've seen and experienced so much that I'm afraid that I'm going to forget it if I don't write it down somewhere. Since I left my USB cord for my camera at home, I cannot show pictures, but I promise that they are very cool. This entry will be updated with pictures next week. This entry is updated with pictures!
In the last three days, I was in the ShanXi province, about 300 miles from Beijing.
My mom, my aunt, my uncle and I visited temple after temple. It's much more interesting than it sounds. I visited temples carved in caves, I visited hanging temples and I visited temples high up in the mountains.
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On our way up to the mountains, we took in a hitchhiking monk. She, like many other monks, was on a pilgrimage to Wu Tai Shan, the home of 108 temples. This girl was young, about 19 or 20, but she lied and told us she was 30. When we got up there, we saw hordes of monks and lamas, Tibetan monks. I have never seen so many in my life.
I even got to hold a baby lama. He could not have been older than three.
They were all there to receive money to donate to people of the flood. Lamas look more aggressive than monks do; maybe it's because their robe is red or maybe it's because I saw mostly men. However, when the monks wouldn't open their temple to the public, the lamas fought their way in.
My mom learned how to perform an exercise that the lamas do. It looks like a combination of a push-up and a prayer.
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Lamas must do 2000 of these every day. Some of the lamas we saw were very good-looking-thin with prominent cheekbones. If I were that good-looking, I don't think I'd become a lama. However, I learned that lamas do have sex as part of their initiation. There is a woman who performs this service for them. Unlike a prostitute, she is treated with dignity and respect.
I rode a horse up a mountain to visit another temple. I visited the cave where Pusa's mother gave birth to him. Pusa is the Buddha you think of whenever you think of Buddhism-the fat, smiley one. The cave was in the shape of a vagina, as it was supposed to represent. The hole couldn't have been more than one foot wide, but almost everyone got through.
What religion am I, people ask? I'm still not sure, but it's definitely an Asian religion. Western religions are not compatible with me. The ideologies are instrinsically different. To sum it up, the Eastern way of thinking is round while the Western is linear. This is apparent in the religious practices. For example, monks walk in a circle when they chant. Their prayer bell(?) is also round.
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As for my extended family, it's been refreshing to see them. At first, they felt like strangers, but now I feel completely comfortable around them. My cousins have all grown up to become handsome men.
Family reunion/dinner!
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Another question: is it incest if you dance with your cousin? They might take me to a disco club before I leave.
Tomorrow I'm going to hang out with my cousins again. It's time to be around people my age again.
In the last three days, I was in the ShanXi province, about 300 miles from Beijing.
My mom, my aunt, my uncle and I visited temple after temple. It's much more interesting than it sounds. I visited temples carved in caves, I visited hanging temples and I visited temples high up in the mountains.
\
On our way up to the mountains, we took in a hitchhiking monk. She, like many other monks, was on a pilgrimage to Wu Tai Shan, the home of 108 temples. This girl was young, about 19 or 20, but she lied and told us she was 30. When we got up there, we saw hordes of monks and lamas, Tibetan monks. I have never seen so many in my life.
I even got to hold a baby lama. He could not have been older than three.
They were all there to receive money to donate to people of the flood. Lamas look more aggressive than monks do; maybe it's because their robe is red or maybe it's because I saw mostly men. However, when the monks wouldn't open their temple to the public, the lamas fought their way in.
My mom learned how to perform an exercise that the lamas do. It looks like a combination of a push-up and a prayer.
<>
Lamas must do 2000 of these every day. Some of the lamas we saw were very good-looking-thin with prominent cheekbones. If I were that good-looking, I don't think I'd become a lama. However, I learned that lamas do have sex as part of their initiation. There is a woman who performs this service for them. Unlike a prostitute, she is treated with dignity and respect.
I rode a horse up a mountain to visit another temple. I visited the cave where Pusa's mother gave birth to him. Pusa is the Buddha you think of whenever you think of Buddhism-the fat, smiley one. The cave was in the shape of a vagina, as it was supposed to represent. The hole couldn't have been more than one foot wide, but almost everyone got through.
What religion am I, people ask? I'm still not sure, but it's definitely an Asian religion. Western religions are not compatible with me. The ideologies are instrinsically different. To sum it up, the Eastern way of thinking is round while the Western is linear. This is apparent in the religious practices. For example, monks walk in a circle when they chant. Their prayer bell(?) is also round.
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As for my extended family, it's been refreshing to see them. At first, they felt like strangers, but now I feel completely comfortable around them. My cousins have all grown up to become handsome men.
Family reunion/dinner!
<>
Another question: is it incest if you dance with your cousin? They might take me to a disco club before I leave.
Tomorrow I'm going to hang out with my cousins again. It's time to be around people my age again.