A Chinese Wedding Scrap-Book April 17, 2012

Married on 5/10/2011

To understand why I used print media to create a Chinese Wedding scrap-book that I mailed to China, is explained in short chapter blog posts.

This post ties them together, the reader has all thirteen links in sequence.  It is a 100 page scrap-book scanned in, but it’s also a rather romantic non-fiction story.

I’m happy to report that the two main characters, Sam and Daisy, will once again be landing on US soil in late May of 2012.  It will be Daisy’s second visit to the USA.

 

Why a scrap-book?

Chapter 1 – Welcome to New Jersey

Chapter 2 – Doylestown, PA

Chapter 3 – Qingdao

Chapter 4 – Qingdao Dinner Celebration

Chapter 5 – Mother’s Day in Wuhan

Chapter 6 – Wedding Day Begins

Chapter 7 – Wedding Ceremony Begins

Chapter 8 – More on the Wedding Ceremony

Chapter 9 – Wedding Cake and Guests

Chapter 10 – The Day Continues

Chapter 11 – Our Evening Meal

Chapter 12 – Culture and Romance

The Scrap-Book For China, Chapter 12, It Ends On Culture And Romance January 30, 2012

Culture & Romance

When the wedding festivities ended, I spent a few more days in Wuhan with Sam & Daisy, then took the train to Shanghai.  I feel at home in Shanghai.  I spent five days there before flying home.  As time permits, I will share later some of those photographs.

This last group of scanned in scrap-book pages are photographs of a few selected pages in a book.  My doorbell rang one day.  A friend that went to high school with Sam was standing there.  He had recently returned from a trip to China and hand delivered me a wedding book.  Do not expect these scanned in pages to look like a typical USA wedding album.

So, I’ll be starting school next week.  It’s 9 weeks, a couple of refresher courses, and I do have a general idea where this might lead me.  I will leave you now, with 2 sentences and 7 scanned in scrap-book pages.

Wherever life takes you, embrace this world with an open mind.  By doing so, what you will discover far exceeds your own expectations.

The Scrap-Book For China, Chapter 11, Our Evening Meal January 30, 2012

Rain was pouring down non-stop.  With multiple vehicles, we were all transported to a restaurant in Wuhan.  It was another hour-long ride.  Daisy’s aunt was hosting our evening dinner.  I think what happened next must have been planned.

I was warmly greeted by her aunt and restaurant staff.  Because of the messy rain, I didn’t notice, the other guests were held back a bit in the lobby.  They brought me, alone, into this dining room.  To say I was treated like royalty, an honored guest, would be an understatement.  From past reading, I understood in the historical sense, the mother of a #1 son in China holds a certain level of power, control and respect.

This was a cultural difference I could endorse back, by simply being myself.

Daisy had told me (during her visit here), her parents discouraged her when they learned she wanted to marry someone from the USA.  She asked them to wait, they should meet Sam first.  The two later traveled together to Wuhan.  He met her parents.  Sam understands Mandarin, and speaks it.   I know my son, I let him be himself, it’s his greatest strength in life.

So on to the scanned in scrap-book pages for this chapter.  Sam told me, don’t ask what it is, just eat it first.  Glad I took his advice.

The Scrap-Book For China, Chapter 10, The Day Continues January 29, 2012

Six scanned in scrap-book pages will briefly show you where we rested, and then visited the home where Daisy grew up.

From the USA, six guests attended the wedding.  Myself, Sam’s father, and from Texas his aunt, uncle and two cousins were there.

Jeff was born in the USA, his parents were born in China.  He grew up on the west coast, and spoke Mandarin at home.  Today, Jeff lives in China.

A very comfortable place to rest

Some were more tired than others

It was an hour ride from our hotel to the wedding

Daisy and Sam, with their cousins Carolyn and Laura

The warm slippers, I thought, were the best gifts

Not sure he will actually use this

The Scrap-Book For China, Chapter 9, Wedding Cake And Guests January 28, 2012

Notice Daisy is now wearing a different dress.  It is traditional in a Chinese wedding for the bride wear multiple dresses.

These scanned in pages from the scrap-book are predominately group photos taken by their professional photographer.  Give credit where credit is due.

The wedding cake

Daisy's family

Sam's family

More of Daisy's family

Flower girl is a relative, ring bearer came with the photographer

Guests

One of my favorites

Sam and Mom

The formal wedding ends in this post, the day is not yet over though

Thank you, Jeff

The Scrap-Book For China, Chapter 8, More On The Wedding Ceremony January 27, 2012

I had made an off-hand comment to Sam once “I will be there…..as long as I get to dance with my son at his wedding.”   Ball room dancing at weddings, as we know it in the USA, is not traditional in a Chinese wedding.  That USA tradition, so important to me, was included in their ceremony.

The parents do play a role in the ceremony.  I was limited to 100 scrap-book pages though, I’ll throw some miscellaneous pictures into a post at the end.

It was all spoken in Mandarin

Lighting candles

Rings are exchanged

Wow

They included a cultural difference just for me

One of Daisy's relatives

Naturally, there were fireworks

Officially married

The parents

The Scrap-Book For China, Chapter 7, Wedding Ceremony Begins January 26, 2012

It does begin with the dragon dance.  I was clueless, had no idea I would walk my son down the aisle.

Daisy is crying as we hug each other.  In a later chapter on the wedding ceremony, you will meet Jeff.  In front of 300 Chinese guests, he translated for me.  My words were simple,  “If I had to pick the woman to marry my only son, I would have picked Daisy.”

Traditional Dragon Dance

The wedding aisle

Had no idea I would do this

She is beautiful

An honor to do this

She is..........

Daisy said "yes"

The Scrap-Book for China, Chapter 6, The Wedding Day Begins January 25, 2012

The entire scrap-book has 100 pages.  My intent is to share with others a Chinese wedding.  If you live in the USA, do not expect the same wedding traditions.

The next 5 scanned in scrap-book pages is the beginning of their wedding day.  I was not physically there.  These photographs are from the professional photographer, I created the scrap-book pages.

Please honor and respect, both copyright concerns and cultural differences.

May 10, 2011

Time to pick up his bride

Daisy is ready and waiting

Out they go and into the car

Off they go to their wedding ceremony

The Scrap-Book For China, Chapter 5, Mother’s Day In Wuhan January 24, 2012

My first trip to China in 2008 was planned around Mother’s Day.  I was with my son in Qingdao when the earthquake struck.  You can read more on that here.

Now in 2011 Daisy, Sam, his father and I were in Qingdao on Mother’s Day.  Together we flew that day to Wuhan and met Daisy’s family.

Here are the scrap-book pages scanned in that I chose to mark that special day.

The glass elevator & ceiling in the Howard Johnson 5 star hotel

Their wedding invitation

Two mothers and two kids

We were all together on Mother's Day (typo error in scrap-book, it was 2011)

The Scrap-Book For China, Chapter 4, Qingdao Dinner Party January 22, 2012

Sam moved to Qingdao in February of 2008 to teach English.  Today he is a service manager for the two Wall Street Institute School of English branch schools in Qingdao.

Daisy grew up in Wuhan.  She moved to Qingdao and graduated from Qingdao University.  She remained in this city and taught English at the TOEFL level.  As a side note, the TOEFL test is one of many administered by ETS (Educational Testing Services) located here in Princeton, NJ.

They met each other in December of 2009 at a local hangout bar.  Sam was helping a friend who also wanted to move here and teach English.  He asked around, who might be a good contact for his friend?  Someone pointed to Daisy.  She was sitting at a table with her back-pack still on.

With their large network of friends today, most would not be able to travel to Wuhan for their wedding.  Sam and Daisy hosted a dinner party in Qingdao to celebrate with their local friends.

Here are the scanned in scrap-book pages from this special dinner party.