"Trick or Treat"--East Asian Style

[This essay was originally posted to a blog on Weebly. In transferring it I have updated and made corrections where necessary.]

The traditional Halloween beer-sucking game.

What does the average American know about the deep-culture origins of Halloween? Most see it as sort of a watered-down "fun time" for kids, and an excuse for adults to par-tay.

Of course some of us know that it was the traditional first day of Winter, the season of the dead; and that the Church co-opted this Pagan (in the high sense of the word) tradition and turned it into a remembrance first (November 1) of all the Christians who have passed on, and second (November 2) of all the souls who have died.

And so in some countries people go to the cemeteries to "par-tay" with the dead. My wife Lila says that in the Philippines, families play cards and mahjong there!

Gross National Happiness

[This essay was originally posted to a blog on Weebly. In transferring it I have updated and made corrections where necessary.]

I've just finished reading Three Cups of Tea, the fascinating story of American mountain-climber Greg Mortenson, who, after losing his way near the Himalayan peak known as K2, promised a poor village that he would build them a school.

Years later, he is the head of the Central Asia Institute, and is responsible not only for building schools, but also for teachers' salaries, medical facilities and supplies, clean water projects, and a host of other humanitarian projects. Mortenson truly is, as the subtitle says, "Promot[ing] Peace...One School at a Time."

[NB: The book later came under suspicion of having been at least partially fabricated, and the funds it raised misused.]

A Visit to Dapeng

[This essay was originally posted to a blog on Weebly. In transferring it I have updated and made corrections where necessary.]

My wife Lila and I decided to make a quick get-away this weekend, so we stayed in Dameisha, a beach resort just outside of Shenzhen, the city where we live.

Our ultimate goal, though, was a Ming-period naval fortress out on Dapeng peninsula, beyond where we stayed.

Near the fort is a rather interesting little temple. I suspect that it was built as a folk temple, housing many of the more popular figures in what some call "superstitious" Daoism (Taoism). These little folk temples often have great images on wall tiles, as well as charming (if sometimes garish) statuary.

"Don't call me your family names!"

[This essay was originally posted to a blog on Weebly. In transferring it I have updated and made corrections where necessary.]

I don't know if things have changed much, but when I was a kid, playground taunts were a most common form of communication. "Stupid head," "ugly face," and other scathingly witty insults were much more common than kind words and pet names.

So naturally, we had to come up with equally witty defenses against such attacks. And, in good playground-ritual fashion, some of these rhymed.

I'm rubber, you're glue. Whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you!

OK, it doesn't scan so well, but hey, we were eight.

"Spiritual AND Religious"

[This essay was originally posted to a blog on Weebly. In transferring it I have updated and made corrections where necessary.]

Sometimes when I sign up for a website (Beliefnet, for example) I find myself faced with the "Religion" question.

"Religion," the category says, and then they give a bunch of choices, none of which fits. If I say, "The Path," the formulation I've come up with, no one will understand.

The Path, in brief, is a way of seeing that leads to personal peace. It's the Perennial Philosophy that underlies all religions, with four steps:

A Little Illustration of Impermanence

[This essay was originally posted to a blog on Weebly. In transferring it I have updated and made corrections where necessary.]

I'm sitting in the train when, through the crowd of standing passengers, I see a lovely face. Not young-young, but younger than me. Maybe 35, classic, almond-eyed, pug-nosed, pouty-lipped, well-taken-care-of. She's holding hands with someone, but I can't see who.

(Not that it matters. I'm happily married. But that doesn't stop me from appreciating a pretty face when I see one. I once knew a Thai Buddhist abbot who would occasionally mention that a girl was "pretty." Whenever I scolded him, he'd say in his sing-song English, "When I see beauty, I say beauty." I loved that guy.)

Anyway, the ride continues, and at one station most of the crowd empties out like air rushing from a balloon, and I can see who she's holding hands with.

It's her mother.

Anger Management

[This essay was originally posted to a blog on Weebly. In transferring it I have updated and made corrections where necessary.]

As a young man, I had quite a temper. But after becoming a vegetarian in 1994, despite some curveballs that life threw me, I definitely calmed down. There was a time when total strangers commented on how calm I was, how peaceful.

Not anymore.

Things that make you STOP going "hmmm…"

[This essay was originally posted to a blog on Weebly. In transferring it I have updated and made corrections where necessary.]

Take a look at the faceplate of my water heater:

The first thing I thought when I saw it is, "Why are some letters in italics, and some not?"

Why I keep teaching (it ain't the money)

[This essay was originally posted to a blog on Weebly. In transferring it I have updated and made corrections where necessary.]

Why have I continued to teach for nearly thirty years? Hint: It's about love.

I began teaching in September of 1981. Since then, I've taught mostly English. But I've also taught biology, history, photography, Junior Great Books, religion (Christianity), religion ("Buddhism in English") and cross-cultural studies.

I've taught dozens of business and technical English classes. I've tutored English, history, biology, math, Spanish, and study skills; and I've led salons and discussions outside of class.

Of Ghosts and Spirits: A Question from a Chinese Christian

[This essay was originally posted to a blog on Weebly. In transferring it I have updated and made corrections where necessary.]

I should have known "Terry" was a Christian right away. There's something about Christians in China: Perhaps because the environment has been hostile at times, they tend to be a bit more committed, and a bit more consistent, than they might be in other places. In the past, Christians were likely to be found in Christian families; these days, in the more open society, some young people are converting while their parents maintain traditional beliefs, but a Christian household still seems to be the norm. If Dad converts, everyone converts.

China's not what you think it is… or is it?

[This essay was originally posted to a blog on Weebly. In transferring it I have updated and made corrections where necessary.]

We all have images of what a particular country is like, but when we actually go to these imagined places, they seldom match our expectations.

This is true of China, and how.

For example: Most of us pictured lots of bicycles, and people wearing those Mao suits. Or maybe willow trees drooping over ponds, with a moon bridge in the background. You can still find this stuff--mostly in tourist traps.

Universals

[This essay was originally posted to a blog on Weebly. In transferring it I have updated and made corrections where necessary.]

We who have chosen to be expats (whether perpetual, like myself, or temporary, like many) are often asked: "So why'd ya do it?"

It's not an easy question to answer. I made an attempt to explain it just after moving to Shenzhen in 2004; you can read it in this post on You Are That.).

But since then, I've come to formulate it more simply. My revised answer goes like this:

"How much of me is human, how much is American, and how much is just James?"