The temperature was 32F (0C), so we were struggling whether or not to go out to see the Mardi Gras parade. I was curious about Mardi Gras, so we decided to go downtown to see it.
Mardi Gras is French, meaning ‘Fat Tuesday’. This is a carnival celebration with alcohol, people dressed in different kinds of costume in a parade, throwing out beads to the crowd.You see, we got a lot. Ah, my hands and feet were freezing...
Recently, we watched the DVD ‘Crash’, which won 3 Academy Awards, including Best Picture in 2005. The film content is about the gray area between different races, the characters struggling and subjective problems from races colliding. However, the reality of their wrong behaviors is because they were filled with anger, hatred, worries, fear, loss, etc. Basically, these are not really caused by race issues.
’ll mention one of the points expressed in the film – a white cop’s father is sick and he is seeking approval from insurance for medicine, but the staff, a black lady, denied his request. So, he was angry and spoke roughly to this black lady. He was then filled with anger when he went on duty and stopped a car with a black couple. The black wife said something that angered him, so he purposely checked their whole body. The black husband endured seeing this cop touching his wife’s private parts. After that, his wife was very sad and angry because he didn’t do anything and he even apologized to that cop. The next day, she went to her husband’s office and they had an argument again. She got angrier and drove away. On her way she got into an accident and her car flipped upside down with gas leaking out. As that white cop was on duty and saw the accident, he rushed to help. When she noticed who he was, she didn’t want him to touch her. However, he softly said he really meant to help her out. Finally, he tried his best, even though he knew that he might lose his life, and pulled her out before the explosion. When they looked at each other after they were safe, was she so grateful that it diminished the hate caused by the insult? Was his kindness already putting out the fire of anger?
There are some scenes in this movie about the issues between different races that cause us to think deep…
This was the 15th day of first lunar month, and is called the Lantern Festival (Mandarin: yuan xiao jie). The Fo Guang Shan St. Louis Buddhist Center organized a Chinese New Year Cultural Performance. After the buffet, they had some cultural performances, Tai Chi demonstrations, lantern riddles, arts & crafts, Spring Couplets in Chinese calligraphy and gift drawings.When talking about Chinese New Year, the Lion Dance is one of most popular performances. Ha-ha, we watched an American team perform a Lion Dance and Chinese martial arts (kung fu). How come this ‘Da Tou Fo’ (a role with a big head mask) used a CD case instead of the usual bamboo fan? A western style ‘Da Tou Fo’? This was just my observation. In fact, I was glad to see another race of people learn the culture & art from a different race! I think some westerners have wide vision, but on the other hand, I read news a few months ago about the issue of Malaysian Muslims not being allowed to practice Yoga. I don’t know why some people do not want to widen their knowledge?
This is a carnival celebration with alcohol, people dressed in different kinds of costume in a parade, throwing out beads to the crowd. 
You see, we got a lot.
Ah, my hands and feet were freezing...
Mardi Gras是法语，这是一个庆祝活动，通常是狂欢喝酒，
有化妆游行，
他们也会丢出珠子项链给群众。你看，我们拿到很多。
啊，我的手脚都冷到麻冻…
