Look up in the sky

It’s a bird…..It’s a plane….It’s a Sky Lantern. Walking around the lake every weekend provides some very nice views to see how the area around the lake is lit up with different colored lights, etc. If you watch for it and have a little bit of patience, you’ll also be able to see something else. KhoomFay or Sky Lanterns can be seen around the RainboWalk area nearly every weekend. The photo below is just a picture taken as I was walking home from around the RainboWalk area. I looked up (which can be dangerous because the sidewalks here are not really very level, turning an ankle is very easy, not to mention the flop on your face) and noticed the lanterns flying overhead. These are just dots in the sky in the image, they look better and more prominent on the original photo (which is in the album for the Laser Light Show).

They look like little red dots (as opposed to little green men) floating through the sky, taken on the wind. Some weekends, there will only be a few but on others, there are a lot that will continue to take to the air. In the US, someone would be calling 911 to report a UFO (I called Agents Mulder & Scully but they were out on a case) but here it is a frequent sight. The most prominent time of the year to see these in the sky is during Tombsweeping and of course, the Lantern Festival. People will write a message on the Sky Lantern before releasing it and send those wishes up to the heavens. They say that the Sky Lanterns will be in the air for about 12 minutes and reach up to a mile high. What happens when the fuel cell runs out (if I’m not mistaken, these burn a sterno type gel to make them float on the same principle as a hot air balloon)….well Jimmy Neutron, they come down. But have no fear, they are “biodegradeable” (or so they say). I’ve never actually seen one on the street but I live inside the launch radius so I’m sure that outside of the launch radius someone is constantly finding these things in their yard. I would not be surprised to find out that someone goes around and looks for them to collect them and re-sell them to an unsuspecting tourist. After all, they sell them at night (no, not tire track, ancient Chinese symbols).

And speaking of symbols…..my Chinese name.
杨乐
For my business cards, I decided to add a Chinese name for the Chinese side of the card (double sided cards, one English, the other Chinese). I debated it for a couple of days and spoke to others about it and made the decision to find a Chinese name. There were several reasons to do this, including reaching out to the Chinese and trying to assimilate into their culture. It is seen as a goodwill gesture, much like just saying a few simple words in Chinese. It’s not that I can speak the language but it’s the willingness to try rather than expect them to speak my language. How did I choose my name? Well I started with my Chinese zodiac symbol and placed that as my last name (which when writing in Chinese, is written first). So I choose Yang, which translates to goat (since I was born in the year of the goat, which is also noted as both ram and sheep). And just so you know, this is a good thing (being a goat [insert goat sound here]), if you believe these kinds of things. The first name (which is written second, are you following this?) was more difficult. According to another Chinese site, I am a Fire Goat (which I’m not sure is good or bad) but the word for fire is Yan….I would be Yang Yan. Nope, not gonna do it. So it was kind of a joke from this point forward. How about skinny goat? How about lucky goat (and what is a lucky goat anyhow)? Then as we worked through the words and tried different combinations, it finally fell into place. My first name is Lè (pronounced Luh, not what you would expect). So my Chinese name translates into English as…….(drum roll please)……..Happy Goat. Ta-Dah! (insert laughter here and move on when it subsides). Yang Lè, that’s me. We got a pretty good laugh about it but it stuck so that’s what’s going on my business cards. From a Chinese perspective, the name works and people think it fits so what the heck (it could be worse…I could be Kosmo Kramer), so say hello to Happy Goat (and meet my brothers, Sneezy, Dopey, Grumpy, Sleepy, Bashful and Doc). Of course you realize that this makes Tammy, wife of Happy Goat. Somehow I think she'd be happier with wife of Ultra-Rich Goat but that's the breaks.

I'm headed to Shanghai this weekend so look for those photos next week.