Bring Out Your Dead- In Honor of Grave Sweeping Day

Tomorrow is Ching Ming Festival in Hong Kong. A lovely little holiday that happens twice a year *correction, grave sweeping happens twice a year, the other holiday is called Chuen Yuen. Thanks Miko!* so that you can sweep the graves of the dead in your family, pay your respects, have a picnic in a graveyard and spend some time talking memories of people who have left our world for a better one. It is in honor of Ching Ming Festival that I make this post. It's not a flashy festival and is often overshadowed by close holidays to it. (Like this year with Easter.) It doesn't have any commercial Hallmark cards with it. (Can you imagine?) Ching Ming literally means "Clear Brightness". It's important to honor what has died in the past so that we can look upon everything that is being born new with clear eyes. Pretty ideas, right?

According to Feng Shui principles the graveyards must be well kept and have certain items. Such as: something red, a water element close to it, better feng shui for the dead is found away from noise, etc. You can find more details about the feng shui principles of grave yards in china online. I learned a lot by just googling it. But if someone tells you that you have a ghost in your vagina, RUN!!!!!

Fireworks and Fukushima

After my second day in Kyoto our entire hostel went off to the firework festival. When asking why this festival was happening the answer our host was, "It's summer and fireworks are fun." Reasonable answer, silly me for thinking all festivals have to have a deeper meaning. I must have been living in China for far too long.

We get to the metro to take the train to the festival and the train is SUPER crowded! We are so packed in there that is getting to point of ridiculous. There are many girls in beautiful kimonos and wooden shoes and I couldn't help but feel bad for them. I had a great conversation with a hot guy in a yukata and his very nice girl friend. Here's how it went.
First a little background info, before we started talking he got a text message and read it out loud to his girlfriend. What I heard : "Japanese, Japanese.... I want you, I need you." Girlfriend giggles and hits him.

I have to stand very close to him and say, "Gomen, nasai."
He says. "okay."
"My japanese is terrible."- me
"I speak no English."- him
"I want you, I need you."- me
Girlfriend giggles!!!!!
"Segoi!!!" -him
"Arigato." -me