I have been thinking about how different the season leading up to Christmas has been for us this year. A friend had sent me a funny e-card with animation of some of the ways Christmas can be stressful due to all the hustle and bustle. As I watched it, I thought to myself, I am so grateful that my days leading up to Christmas has not been like that. I have been really appreciating and enjoying what India has to offer during the Christmas season.
1) I love our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree! It is refreshing to have a very small Christmas tree in a way. Its smallness has felt special. It is not flashy or have that "larger than life" presence in the house, but it is still beautiful to behold. There is beauty that radiates from simplicity and smallness. I also have been realizing how much I enjoy our nativity set. I would love to collect nativity sets from various countries.
2) I really appreciate the time I have had for thinking more about the meaning of Christmas. I have been reflecting a lot on the Christmas story and the words,"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." Those few words have been carrying a lot of meaning for me, especially this year.
3) Caroling!! We have had carolers come and share in the joys of Christmas in our home. So far we have had over fifty people stop by to celebrate Christmas with us in songs and fellowship. It has been a lot of fun.
4) I am appreciating the fact that the lack of "visible signs" of Christmas means more opportunities for us to do what we can to remember and think about Christmas. In the States, you are bombarded with Christmas music, lights, and people rushing about. Here, we intentionally play Christmas music to help us be reminded of what we are celebrating this season. It has been meaningful to anticipate Christmas in midst of everyday living without the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping!
5) This year, I kind of feels like I am in on God's little secret, like the wise men, Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Zachariah, the angels and the shepherds who got to hear good news of great joy meant for all people, but most of the world didn't notice when Jesus was born. For most people, it was just another birth of a baby, but these people, they heard the significance of Jesus' entry into the world. So as Christmas is approaching, I feel great joy as I prepare my heart to celebrate Jesus' quiet entry into this world.
Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Our First Wedding in India
Last week, we attended our first wedding in India. We took so many photos that it took some time for me sift through them and choose a few that you can see so that you can get a flavor for weddings here. However, you have to keep in mind that India is a large country with many different ethnic groups with their own language, dress, and traditions. So, our wedding experience represents a small segment of population in India.
We really enjoyed being part of the festivities. It was interesting to see both western influence and the Nepali tradition side by side. One of the ways that I saw western influence was in the wedding ceremony and what the groom and bride wore for their wedding. However, many things that took place before and after the wedding still followed the Nepali tradition. I recorded below a quick summary of each day so that when you view the photos, you have some idea of what the wedding was like.
Day 1 (for us): Preparation
We spent this day learning how to beat rice to make flour for the traditional snack called selroti. We now know the process of making selroti and it is a lot of work! It was time to help out, relax, hang out with the extended family and close friends of the groom's family.
Day 2: Wedding Day!
We learned that the groom and his family travel to the bride's home for the actual ceremony. So, we got to tag along with the groom's extended family to celebrate the marriage of Sanju and Naomi. It was a challenge trying to walk around in the steep hills with my sari on. The wedding ceremony itself was not much different from the ones back in the States.... I'm not sure what I was expecting but I did not expect it to be so similar.
After the ceremony, the reception was held. I liked how the newlyweds had a designated "receiving room" for guests to come and give their congratulations to the newlywed. We ate and then the family was called up to a private room. The parents of the groom and the bride, along with their extended family exchanged gifts with one another and made plans for the following day. Afterwards, we all said our goodbyes and returned to the groom's parents' place. The newlyweds were to spend the night there. We were told that if we had come from a distance, then the bride's family would be responsible for housing the extended family.
Day 3: Another reception at the groom's parents!
The morning began with a few men of the groom's family going back to the bride's home to get the groom and the bride. It was the day that the bride officially left her family and joined her husband's. I found it interesting that the aspect of Bible teaching where it says "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" has yet to impact the tradition. I had asked the groom's mom whether she would be crying at the ceremony and her response was, "No, because I gain a daughter. But the daughter's family will." It is the woman who leaves her father and mother and joins another family as often the newlyweds live together with the groom's parents.
The newlyweds were greeted by many people who had been eagerly waiting for their arrival. I couldn't help but to wonder if the bride felt a little overwhelmed in being greeted by a crowd after she had just said goodbye to her family...
You will see in the photo album some of the traditions practiced upon the arrival of the newlyweds at the groom's. I'm not sure what they all mean.
The reception began at 11am with a steady flow of guests until about 8pm. I think about 600 guests had come by for some time to eat, socialize, and congratulate both the newlyweds and the parents of the groom. I got to pretend that I was Nepali and worked as an attendant in the buffet line. We were pretty tired by 8pm and left as it looked like things were over. Of course we learned that after we left the fun continued with dancing!
We came back the following morning to say hello and good bye before heading for home. People were busy taking down stuff. I also learned that in the Nepali tradition, the bride must cook a meal for the whole extended family that evening. Traditionally, this was the way for the new daughter-in-law to learn her way around in the kitchen. I remember how I felt the day after our wedding and I know I would not have wanted to cook for a dozen people! (I am so glad for the tradition of honeymoon in the States!) But then this is coming from a westernized Asian woman's perspective. It was a great cultural experience and we are grateful we were included in the festivities.
You can view photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/grafsbiz/OurFirstWeddingInIndia?authkey=JJq79BZpuZY
We really enjoyed being part of the festivities. It was interesting to see both western influence and the Nepali tradition side by side. One of the ways that I saw western influence was in the wedding ceremony and what the groom and bride wore for their wedding. However, many things that took place before and after the wedding still followed the Nepali tradition. I recorded below a quick summary of each day so that when you view the photos, you have some idea of what the wedding was like.
Day 1 (for us): Preparation
We spent this day learning how to beat rice to make flour for the traditional snack called selroti. We now know the process of making selroti and it is a lot of work! It was time to help out, relax, hang out with the extended family and close friends of the groom's family.
Day 2: Wedding Day!
We learned that the groom and his family travel to the bride's home for the actual ceremony. So, we got to tag along with the groom's extended family to celebrate the marriage of Sanju and Naomi. It was a challenge trying to walk around in the steep hills with my sari on. The wedding ceremony itself was not much different from the ones back in the States.... I'm not sure what I was expecting but I did not expect it to be so similar.
After the ceremony, the reception was held. I liked how the newlyweds had a designated "receiving room" for guests to come and give their congratulations to the newlywed. We ate and then the family was called up to a private room. The parents of the groom and the bride, along with their extended family exchanged gifts with one another and made plans for the following day. Afterwards, we all said our goodbyes and returned to the groom's parents' place. The newlyweds were to spend the night there. We were told that if we had come from a distance, then the bride's family would be responsible for housing the extended family.
Day 3: Another reception at the groom's parents!
The morning began with a few men of the groom's family going back to the bride's home to get the groom and the bride. It was the day that the bride officially left her family and joined her husband's. I found it interesting that the aspect of Bible teaching where it says "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" has yet to impact the tradition. I had asked the groom's mom whether she would be crying at the ceremony and her response was, "No, because I gain a daughter. But the daughter's family will." It is the woman who leaves her father and mother and joins another family as often the newlyweds live together with the groom's parents.
The newlyweds were greeted by many people who had been eagerly waiting for their arrival. I couldn't help but to wonder if the bride felt a little overwhelmed in being greeted by a crowd after she had just said goodbye to her family...
You will see in the photo album some of the traditions practiced upon the arrival of the newlyweds at the groom's. I'm not sure what they all mean.
The reception began at 11am with a steady flow of guests until about 8pm. I think about 600 guests had come by for some time to eat, socialize, and congratulate both the newlyweds and the parents of the groom. I got to pretend that I was Nepali and worked as an attendant in the buffet line. We were pretty tired by 8pm and left as it looked like things were over. Of course we learned that after we left the fun continued with dancing!
We came back the following morning to say hello and good bye before heading for home. People were busy taking down stuff. I also learned that in the Nepali tradition, the bride must cook a meal for the whole extended family that evening. Traditionally, this was the way for the new daughter-in-law to learn her way around in the kitchen. I remember how I felt the day after our wedding and I know I would not have wanted to cook for a dozen people! (I am so glad for the tradition of honeymoon in the States!) But then this is coming from a westernized Asian woman's perspective. It was a great cultural experience and we are grateful we were included in the festivities.
You can view photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/grafsbiz/OurFirstWeddingInIndia?authkey=JJq79BZpuZY
Friday, December 14, 2007
Introvert Time
We returned yesterday from attending our first Indian wedding. I am sooo tired. We got the insider scoop on the wedding from planning, set-up, to the whole shindig which meant a lot of fun and a lot of work for three days! I am exhausted. I will post photos and maybe some thoughts about the wedding soon. For now, I badly need some introvert time.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree
This may sound kind of horrible to some folks, but when we were living in the States, there were times when we didn't put up a Christmas tree. I guess in general, Paul and I are not the "sentimental" and into "traditions" kind of people. I am no Ms. Martha Stewart and I am not that into holiday decoration and stuff, although I can get into it. We dread going Christmas shopping. Unfortunately, many times it meant that we would wait until the last minute to do our shopping, which would end up being even more hectic! I remember once going to some department store the day after Christmas to exchange something and I saw incredible sale prices. I told Paul that we should just shop for each other the day after Christmas and get a small token just to open on Christmas day with everyone. Whooo... STOP. I am finding myself starting to go off on tangent from what I was originally intending to write about, so I'm going to stop. Back to my original purpose....
We inherited a Christmas tree from one of our ex-pat friends who were leaving for the States. Anyway, since there is no visual sign of Christmas anywhere in Siliguri, we decided to decorate our home a little bit this year. It is nice to have something visible to remind us of the Advent season and the reason behind our celebration.
I thought putting up the Christmas tree and displaying the nativity set (which I love looking at) would help us in feeling more at home, but it made me homesick! I think it was the first time that I felt it intensely... I don't miss over commercialized Christmas, (although since there is nothing here, sometimes I feel like it would be nice to have a little) but, I miss times with family. For now, our Charlie Brown Christmas tree and our nativity scene will help us in remembering the true Christmas spirit.
We inherited a Christmas tree from one of our ex-pat friends who were leaving for the States. Anyway, since there is no visual sign of Christmas anywhere in Siliguri, we decided to decorate our home a little bit this year. It is nice to have something visible to remind us of the Advent season and the reason behind our celebration.
I thought putting up the Christmas tree and displaying the nativity set (which I love looking at) would help us in feeling more at home, but it made me homesick! I think it was the first time that I felt it intensely... I don't miss over commercialized Christmas, (although since there is nothing here, sometimes I feel like it would be nice to have a little) but, I miss times with family. For now, our Charlie Brown Christmas tree and our nativity scene will help us in remembering the true Christmas spirit.
FECAI Annual Retreat
I want to try to capture what the FECA India's annual retreat was like so I created a photo album for you. I didn't have the time to write the captions for each photo, but some of the photos in the album will be obvious. The retreat was a lot of fun with good teachings, fellowship, and good food. Every year, there is the Bible Quiz (by region) and the Skit competition. The region of Assam won the Bible Quiz competition and the region of Kalimpong won the skit competion. Too bad I didn't take a photo of the trophies! They were huge! There is much more to say about the retreat, but I think I will end here. Maybe another time... For photos, you can go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/grafsbiz/200711FECAIRetreat?authkey=VKHMe8t9JB8
Here is a video from the retreat. We haven't quite learned all the words to this song, but we will soon! :) It is so nice to be able to sing Nepali worship songs and understand what we are singing!
Here is a video from the retreat. We haven't quite learned all the words to this song, but we will soon! :) It is so nice to be able to sing Nepali worship songs and understand what we are singing!
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