Eight

Today is a very 'prosperous' day for the Chinese! It is the eighth day of the eighth month in two thousand and eight. And of course eight is a very lucky number in our culture because phonetically it sounds like the word for wealth or prosperity. And to celebrate this, someone decided to throw a huge and awesome international party in Beijing called the Olympics.

The performances of the opening ceremonies so beautifully showcased our Chinese culture. I am so proud to be Chinese, especially today, when amongst three hundred and fifty people I am one of only two Chinese people by heritage and birth. I got tears in my eyes and so much pride in my heart as I watched the opening ceremonies. The hard work and meaning put into everything just reminded me of the rich tradition that I come from. And of course, I was the only person who jumped up and down when Hong Kong came out.

You cannot and should not miss it!

I decided to run out and try and fly my Chinese kite (given to me by the Chinese Embassy in Liberia).



It has been so much fun to watch an international event in an international environment. We had representatives from many of the Olympic countries here on board. The biggest cheers went out to Liberia (current Mercy Ships outreach) and to Benin (Mercy Ships outreach 2009).

I only have two questions:
-- What were the random bagpipes that kept playing in the background?
-- What in the world is the Mandarin alphabet that the countries were coming out in the order of? Huh?