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last saturday was the third death anniversary celebration thingy of my grandparents. we went to the temple where they were buried that afternoon to do some traditional stuff. we were supposed to go there in the morning, but most of the streets were still flooded so dad and his other sibs decided to go in the afternoon instead. it didn't make any difference though, as some of the streets that we passed through were still flooded.
we arrived there at around two o'clock. my uncle thought it was necessary to hurry up and get on with the tradition stuff we have to do, so we cousins didn't get to update each other much. so the prayer stuff started. we were asked (by the nuns) to stand in front of these soft red square things on which we knelt on when needed. the nuns started reading in a singing way from a small book (chinese bible?). it kinda sounded funny, but i thought their voices blended well, so it was ok. also, they were playing drums and gongs and string instrument thingies. i never knew chinese nuns could play instruments (hey, maybe they should start a band. the can call it THE BIG BAD BUDDHAS!) anyway, we never did this before, so one of the nuns had to motion for us when to bow and kneel. it was confusing!
the first part of the prayer lasted for forty-five minutes. yes, it was VERY boring.
when the nuns stopped singing--er--praying, we thought it was over. NOT! we were asked to change into red shirts and go upstairs. there the prayers continued for an hour in the same manner as the first part, only this time we got to walk around the room in a circle five times like a dragon dance during chinese new year. and also, this time the nuns threw candies and coins at us (which were supposedly for good luck). after that, we went downstairs again to eat good luck meal. most of the dishes were vegetables. only one dish was meat. i wondered why there was pork in a vegetarian temple. anyway, it had a weird smell, but i tried it anyway. IT WASN'T MEAT. that figures. it was some sort of fungus thingy, but the nuns said it contained proteins and other vitamins that vegetables don't have.
so after that we already headed home. i was soo tired, and i smelt like incense and fake meat. ugh.
we arrived there at around two o'clock. my uncle thought it was necessary to hurry up and get on with the tradition stuff we have to do, so we cousins didn't get to update each other much. so the prayer stuff started. we were asked (by the nuns) to stand in front of these soft red square things on which we knelt on when needed. the nuns started reading in a singing way from a small book (chinese bible?). it kinda sounded funny, but i thought their voices blended well, so it was ok. also, they were playing drums and gongs and string instrument thingies. i never knew chinese nuns could play instruments (hey, maybe they should start a band. the can call it THE BIG BAD BUDDHAS!) anyway, we never did this before, so one of the nuns had to motion for us when to bow and kneel. it was confusing!
the first part of the prayer lasted for forty-five minutes. yes, it was VERY boring.
when the nuns stopped singing--er--praying, we thought it was over. NOT! we were asked to change into red shirts and go upstairs. there the prayers continued for an hour in the same manner as the first part, only this time we got to walk around the room in a circle five times like a dragon dance during chinese new year. and also, this time the nuns threw candies and coins at us (which were supposedly for good luck). after that, we went downstairs again to eat good luck meal. most of the dishes were vegetables. only one dish was meat. i wondered why there was pork in a vegetarian temple. anyway, it had a weird smell, but i tried it anyway. IT WASN'T MEAT. that figures. it was some sort of fungus thingy, but the nuns said it contained proteins and other vitamins that vegetables don't have.
so after that we already headed home. i was soo tired, and i smelt like incense and fake meat. ugh.