Ron, a friend/former co-worker of Joe, and another co-worker also named Ron (here I describe him as Ron 2) were in St. Louis for 2 days on business. Joe (working at the same company with Steve, and has traveled several places) wanted to meet for dinner.
The five of us met at an Indian restaurant and we started to chat after we sat down. Ron 2 is a very good story teller. He told several funny stories and made us laugh. One of them was a story about Chinese-Malaysians (I guessed maybe he got to know I am Chinese-Malaysian from Joe). He said when he was in a college in Illinois, they had quite a population of Chinese-Malaysians. During lunch time, they would go to buy their 1 buck chicken rice lunch from people in the shadows. That’s illegal as the seller was not licensed to sell food. So when they are dealing it in shady places, it's kind of like dealing drugs. Once, he was with a Chinese friend and it was lunch time, so he wanted to follow this friend for lunch. The Chinese guy led him to a place to buy chicken rice, but the seller said no when saw he was American. The Chinese guy persuaded the seller, as they were together. That’s dealing like for drugs. Haha….
US$1 exchanges to about RM3.50, and chicken rice is about RM3.50 in Malaysia. However, it is not possible to get chicken rice with US$1 (I am not sure how many years ago this story happened) in the USA, that’s why these Chinese students go get food in the shadows…
That also reminds me about our New York trip, when we were in a store at ChinaTown. The boss saw Steve is American, he ignored our inquiry about a CD. After we went out, we guessed the store might have some illegal CDs and were afraid a Westerner would report them….
During the Memorial Day weekend, the St. Louis Symphony Volunteer Association had a fundraising event – the Gypsy Caravan. I think it a little bit like flea market.
That day was not very good weather - cloudy in the morning and rain in the afternoon. There was rain when we arrived and I did not expect to see a lot of people shopping in the rain. Some were wet – they didn’t bring an umbrella or raincoat, and there were no places to take cover from the rain, but it seems those Americans didn’t care about the rain. The vendor stalls were in an open area; their goods were wet…
St. Louis某大学在公共假日办了一项活动– Gypsy Caravan，即是吉普赛式的流浪商队，我觉得他们卖的东西有点像跳蚤市场。
Some Chinese people think the color black represents bad luck and they avoid using black as a main color in any celebration. Birthday celebrations too, the color black is ‘pantang’ ('taboo', in Malay). Really, don’t challenge their taboo! It might lead to an unpleasant situation and it seems black really can bring bad luck at that moment… (Recently, in the news ‘a few’ Malaysians are sensitive to see people wearing black cloth, sigh.)
We attended Steve’s cousin’s birthday party; it was a surprise party for her 50th. I noticed that they used black as the theme color, like black balloons, food service set, cake icing, and candles. They also put a ‘Ms. Over the Hill’ sash on her. I like this kind of playful and open-minded attitude…
Feeling is a teacher in a special school. The students in Feeling’s class are geniuses; everyone has their outstanding talent. However, the characters of the students are very aloof and arrogant. They don’t like to be together in class and are seldom quiet; sometimes a few of them make a lot of noise. Feeling is biased also, and does not treat or act fairly to all students. Feeling loves those good students like Exciting, Glad, Happy, Cheerful, Comfort… but hates Anger, Sad, Depressed, Nervous, Fear…. Nevertheless, those students sense this aversion and want to get more attention, so they often make mischief, frustrating Feeling. Sometimes Feeling punishes them, but is sometimes forced to ignore them. So they become aggravated. Feeling is so tired after coming back home from school. Feeling calms down and knows that was not the right way to react. What is the actual problem? How to solve it? Feeling always thought to be responsible while teaching class, but Feeling wondered why some students are not obedient and are difficult to control? “Ah…isn’t it because I hate them for being disobedient and difficult to control them?” They don’t get attention so they play tricks…
Feeling decided to try up to show concern and look at them attentively.
That’s funny; when these students know their behaviors and actions are being seen and their teacher Feeling cares about them, they find it difficult to continue to be rude. They slowly quiet down.
Mom for both of us; one of us born, bred, grew and cared for by her; one of us came and was welcomed by her with a loving family. I am so appreciative I am a member of her family here, besides being thankful I would say thank you to her again and again.
I love Steve’s mom. She looks pretty, is always well prepared to welcome our visits, and her house is always immaculate. I especially admire her spirit.
This year Vesak Day is on May 9th, but here it is not a public holiday. So the Buddhist organizations here do not celebrate it on the same day. Mid-America Buddhist Association (MABA) celebrated it last Sunday. Let’s see that celebration…. 佛陀日今年是在5月9日，但这里不是公共假日，所以佛教团体都没按该日庆祝。中美佛教会於上星期天庆祝，看一看这儿的浴佛节…
I suspect my driving license in Malaysia might be a kopi license (“coffee money” license – here it means under-the-table money). I failed the on-road examination three times in America.
After failing the road examination three times, I received a letter requiring me to enroll with an instructor to complete a 20-hour behind the wheel driver training course. @%!^* Is my driving so bad…
