"The most important thing I've learned is this: The fact that we all believe in different things is nowhere near as important as the fact that we all believe."

Monday, February 08, 2010

Orientation Week Pt 3


Friday, the last day of orientation was my favorite day. We visited the ruins of St. Paul, shown on the left of this page. We also visited A-Ma Temple, a Portuguese Wine Museum, and Hac-Sa Beach. My favorite part of the entire week was definitely A-Ma Temple. It is the oldest temple in Macau, built to honor the sea goddess Matsu. According to folktale, when they Portuguese arrived, they pointed to the temple asking what the island was called. The locals thought the Portuguese were referring to the temple instead of the entire island, and therefore answered "Matsu" which was later changed into "Macao" by the Portuguese.


Inside the temple there were many chimes in the trees with wishes written in Chinese on them. There was also many small statues with pots of incense sticks lit in front of them to honor ancestors. Since Chinese New Year will be here very soon, there were lots of people visiting the temple in honor of the holidays. Shown are the circular incense coils that covered the ceiling of the temple. They are supposed to represent someone's life. As a person grows older, they become more focused on their goals and become wiser. (Hence, the coiling inwards). The red pieces of paper are wishes. I was under the (very wrong) impression that honoring ancestors and traditions was a thing of the past in modern-day China. However, many young people still come to the temple before deciding important life decisions--like who to marry or where to live. There was without a doubt an overwhelming sense of peace about the place and many students took part in having their fortunes read by a monk.

Orientation Week Pt 2


The rest of the week consisted of class time and sight-seeing tours. I particularly enjoyed the tours. Our first tour on Wednesday was a cable car up to a light house and the Macau Tower. As you can see, the view from the lighthouse was spectacular! You could see all of Macau! I've uploaded a few of my favorite pictures. Being somewhere so different has definitely inspired me to take photos more creatively.



One thing that I've learned to love is the way the Chinese eat a meal. A lot of dishes are ordered, and then one by one, the dishes are brought to the table for everyone to share. I could sense the anxiety on all the Westerners' faces when the waiter/waitress would only bring one or two dishes at a time. You could not help but think, this will never be enough! But as time goes by, more and more dishes come, and everyone eventually becomes full. "Going out to eat" is truly a social event that takes at least an hour or two to complete! I really like the companionship that goes along with sharing all of the dishes, however. I feel like it's Thanksgiving or Easter again when I pass dishes along and get my drink refilled by the person sitting beside me.


The days following, all the foreign exchange students learned about the gambling history of Macau from someone who teaches a professional course on the subject. It was interesting to learn about how Macau became the gambling city it is today and how companies from America were granted special rights in order to build the Venetian, MGM Grand, and The Wynn. I visited my first casino--something I wouldn't be allowed to do in America! It was more elaborate than I could have ever pictured it in my head. Shown is a picture of me inside the Grand Lisboa--which has actually been voted one of the most interesting buildings in the world.