Post #5

這個週末我和我的家去 camping。我媽媽不喜歡camping，可是我的爸爸要她去。明天我在camp site 復習寫生詞，跟預習第八課文。我也教我的爸爸說中文，因為她要懂外公和外婆。他們是中國人，所以他們說中文說得很快。下個星期一我不去學校，因為我下個星期一下午才回家。✌

Post #4

Tried to use some new characters in here, but not quite sure how to use the descriptive terms for different classes for HW..... 這個週末我跟我的家人去射箭。我們平常去射。我的爸爸教我的妹妹射箭，可是她是八歲。這個週末我們好玩，因為天氣很舒服，可是一點兒熱。我不想了去射箭，因為我有功課所以今天夜我不睡覺。我有中文，英文，民數記，科學，歷史學 功課。我不喜歡功課， 因為功課不太好了。✌

Post #3

昨天上午我和我的爸爸去了打射箭. 我們覺得射箭很好玩， 和不容易。昨天中午我們去了吃墨西哥飯。昨天晚上我, Neil, 我的朋友Spencer, 我的朋友Jessey, 我的朋友Sara, 和我的朋友Nikki去了我們的朋友Caroline的家。我們看電視，聽音樂， 和吃popcorn. Caroline的家是很漂亮，跟很大。Caroline也有兩隻貓， 跟一隻狗。我們都喜歡Caroline的貓和她的狗。✌

L5/ L6 Dialogue

So 姜老師 says that we can make up a main character for the blog to be about. But I'm going to wait until I get an actual Chinese name, and I'll use that as my character's name. But until then, more random little stories! Enjoy! ✌

我有朋友叫 Neil。 我們都喜歡羽毛球， 因為羽毛球是好玩。這個週末我們沒有空，所以上個星期星期五上午我跟我的朋友 Neil 去打羽毛球。我們都是中文課學生， 所以星期五下午我們去看中國電視。我們喜歡中文電視， 但是我們不知道說中文。我的老師想打我和我的同學， 因為我們不知道說中文。

七夕節，中元節

This week our class was focused on learning about two Chinese festivals, The Magpie Festival (七夕節, pronounced Qi Xi Jie), and The Ghost festival (中元節, pronounced Zhong Yuan Jie). Both of these festivals occur in the 7th month of the lunar calendar, 七夕節 on the 7th day, and 中元節 on the 15th day.

七夕節- This festival is the Chinese counterpart to the American holiday of Valentines Day. It is based off of Chinese folklore, and the most popular version of the story is that of the cowherd and the weaver. Supposedly, there was a virtuous and good cowherd, and to reward him, his ox told him to go to the river, where he would meet his love. He goes to the river, and sees 7 fairies bathing, so decides to steal their clothes. The fairies send the youngest sister, the celestial weaver, to retrieve their clothes, which the cowherd agrees to return only if the youngest sister will marry him. She agrees, and they have a happy marriage, but this causes them to neglect their duties. In order to solve this problem, the Emperor of Heaven created the Milky Way in order to separate them. The two lovers are only allowed to see each other on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, which is why the holiday is called 七夕節 which means "the night of sevens." The holiday is celebrated by eating chocolate and other aphrodisiacs, such as mangoes, and by going to the temple to pray for a happy love-life. It is celebrated similarly in other countries surrounding China, including Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand.

中元節- This festival is similar to the American holiday of Halloween, and is believed to be the day that ghosts can come from the underworld to be among the living, and visit their loved ones. The day is celebrated generally for the benefit of the ghosts. Prodigious amounts of food are set out for the ghosts to eat, and people will often go to the theater. At the theater, the first row of chairs are left unoccupied, because they are reserved for the ghosts to use. People will also burn paper money or paper objects, in order for the ghosts to use in the afterlife. At the end of the celebration, lanterns are hung on doorways or sent down rivers to guide the ghosts back to hell.