Happy Dragon Boat Festival day! A Chinese holiday that very few Americans that are not Chinese-American would know. It celebrates the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, where Chinese people do "dragon boat" racing, which is exactly what it sounds like, racing down the river with boats that are painted and shaped like dragons. We also eat "zongzi," or red bean rice cakes wrapped in reed/bamboo. Very iconic. Chinese people really like dragons, if you didn't know.....they are the symbol of prosperity, virility, bravery, basically anything good that can come from a sign of the zodiac. The next year for giving birth to a dragon would be 2024, for anyone planning that far ahead. Until then, we're stuck with years of the rat, ox, tiger, and rabbit. (I just missed being either a tiger or a dragon).
Often times with everything going on, I forget about Chinese holidays: there are actually quite a lot of them, but the main ones is just Chinese New Year, or the Lunar New Year. It's interesting learning about every culture's different types of holidays because they're often inspired by their history, or historic people, or myths and superstitions. It also reveals what kind of food those cultures eat (like zongzi is mainly made from rice, a staple of Chinese culture). MJ and I are friends with a Jewish couple who invite us to join their Passover celebration every year and serve seder plate for everyone and telling the story of Passover in the Jewish culture. Although it's a somewhat religious affair that might conflict with other people's rigid religious customs, I find it to be a great educational opportunity for learning about the the Exodus, Moses, the flight of the Jews from the pharaoh, the curses and frogs raining down, etc. Growing up in a Chinese American household, I wasn't exposed to anything related to the Bible, the Old Testament, the New Testament, or Judaism, but I've found through the years that even if you don't necessarily adhere to the religious doctrines of the religions, there's a lot to be gained from understanding what those religions believe in, who their heroes are, what their history consists of. As my Jewish friends tell me, they interpret the Old Testament as a series of stories that teach values to live by. I also find it fascinating that Judaism and Christianity share some scripture, but then also have other areas where they differ greatly, but the similarities involve some of the same things like "be nice to your neighbors," "love everyone," and having a day of rest every week, except Jews celebrate on Saturday and Christians on Sunday. Same idea though, and a good lesson to have. If only we could come to some sort of mutual understanding over some of the conflicting areas of religion, perhaps it would cause less tension in the world and less wars, less bloodshed. But maybe that's just me being naive and not realizing how far apart those cultures are and how much has already happened and unfortunately there's "no going back."
I just visited 2 of my friends' homes who live in million dollar homes in the L.A. area- one in Mount Washington which is close to downtown near Griffith Observatory, and another in the highly suburban and temperate Redondo Beach area. Both houses were meant to start a family with multiple bedrooms, but they weren't what I'd considered to be "million dollar homes" in my mind when I grew up, which was like gated communities, huge mansions, elegant doors, multiple staircases, crystal chandeliers......nothing of the sort, and that's the trend here in L.A.........most people trade all of those niceties for the ability to live in L.A. That's just how it is now, and especially during the pandemic-fueled home buying craze, and despite some people being angered by the state of California's pandemic policies. It's still one of the premier places in the U.S., maybe the world to live, and once people come here (like my family in 2008) they don't leave. In other places MJ and I have lived, people are genuinely excited to be moving to L.A. or even just SoCal in general.......they are proud to announce it on Facebook, or announce it publicly like they've accomplished something great, or just starting a new adventure, or they quote famous phrase by American newspaper editor Horace Greeley, "Go west, young man." I don't blame them; I felt the same way when I moved from Chicago to L.A. to attend USC Law in 2008. "New chapter in life," "limitless boundaries," "expanding horizons," all coalesced in this idea of L.A. I might even pay a $1 million just to live here.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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