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October 1st 2012
Published: October 1st 2012
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Mid-Autumn Festival officially started this past weekend, and today is the 63rd birthday of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Interestingly, today is the only day this week that is not officially "off". Go figure. Below, I'm embedding the reason I won't be exploring my adopted hometown to the extent I anticipated during this "Golden" week--so-called due to the rumored 50%!b(MISSING)ump in in prices "enjoyed" by the shall we say opportunistic tourism industry.

http://www.echinacities.com/hangzhou/city-in-pulse/15-million-tourists-visit-hangzhou-during-national-day.html

When Mr. Green Blue explained this to me, he was rewarded with a new English word: gouge. Hear tell, celebration of said event is minimal outside Beijing, consisting of maybe flags and probably firecrakers (which celebrate everything from having a baby to having enough money to buy firecrackers), and even there understated relative to the five-- and ten-year anniversaries of the event. Oh, but then, there are the moon pies on ubiquitous display which, now that they are mass-produced (a whole new level of magnitude here), can be enjoyed filled with everything from blueberries to bean paste. Have a look:

http://kaleidoscope.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/upload/upfiles/2009-06/17/photos_moon_cakes2bbaa3923e90057d7bd0.jpg

Pivot and opaque were two other bits of vocab Mr. Green Blue pocketed from our inchoate geopolitical post-prandial conversations this past week. Not hard to conjure up the context. A (Chinese) English teacher here, himself, he actually speaks a form of the language up to the task. He's incessantly curious and eager to engage in cross-cultural comparisons--a gift to me, even though my Chinese barely peeps despite our mutual commitment to improving each others' foreign-language skills. He appears to truly admire American values and appreciate the responsibility and global stability (his perception) that attends the U.S.' assumed role of world policeman. I have to admit, it was heartening, and rather amazing, to hear. Just goes to show that if you put yourself in an unfamiliar situation, something unexpected may result.

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