5. Do you spend more time with your family or with your friends?
I definitely spend more time with my friends as I am still a student, and I have been living on
campus at university. I only get to go home once a month, so I don't often see my parents. I made
friends with a lot of my classmates, and we are constantly together. We study and eat our meals
together, and we hang out after class. We're like family at school.
6. What presents do people usually give on birthdays?
Well, it depends on whose birthday it is, but people frequently give clothes to family members,
especially children. I guess that in the last few years, electronic products have become very trendy.
So things like mobile phones or MP3s or electronic dictionaries are often given as gifts. But you
know, actually in China, we don't often offer gifts for birthdays
.
it’s a lot more common to give a
present for the Chinese New Year during the Spring Festival.
201
A Wedding
Be careful
!
The example given below is TOO LONG
!
I developed the topic in order to
show different aspects of a Chinese wedding. Only pick what you have experienced yourself.
Tell me about a wedding you attended
.
You should say:
who was getting married
who went to the wedding
what was special about the wedding
and explain how you felt at this wedding
.
·
Whose marriage? Memorable celebration for many reasons
·
Traditional
:
we went to get the bride
:
firecrackers, noodles, little games
·
The decorations
:
the bed, red everywhere, pictures of the couple
·
Restaurant: the ceremony
+
speech
+
food
+
wedding gown
·
Performance at night: lively and colorful: unforgettable with fireworks
Last year, one of my good friends got married in his hometown of Longyan, a smaller city
west of Xiamen. I joined the celebration and I must say that it was quite a memorable day.
First of all, they really tried hard to stick to the local traditions
.
In the morning, the groom
and seven of his friends (8 people in total because in China 8 is a lucky number drove to the
bride's home. I was in one of the cars, with pink ribbons everywhere, and we honked the horn all
the way to announce our arrival. The groom went up the stairs and knocked on his future wife's
door for a long time. She kept on asking him questions about their relationship, and he had to
make sure he was answering them right. She asked him to slide some money under the door for
the bridesmaids too
.
It was quite amusing. At her home, we all ate noodles because this specialty
represents longevity
(=
long life) and good luck.
Then
,
the husband-to-be took his fiancee home and showed her around his house
.
Their
bedroom was well-decorated with little hearts and pictures of each other on the walls. Apparently
the groom's parents had made the bed for the newly wedded couple, and they had placed a picture
of a baby boy at the head of the bed in the hope that the new couple would give birth to a son
soon.
The ceremony was very colorful and lively. The host invited the parents to give a speech,
then the bride and groom bowed to the four parents many times as a sign of respect, and also
because they knew they paid for most of the wedding. Later on, the host sang a couple of songs
and people raised their glasses and cheered all together. The bride was wearing a beautiful red
gown: she looked gorgeous. She had a flower in her hair and everyone kept on staring at her.
The food was stunning and we were served 16 dishes, I think. Everything was perfectly
well-organized and people took many pictures of the decorations and dishes on the table. I
snapped a great photograph of the 2 lovers with the Champagne fountain, as they were pouring the
liquid down a pyramid of crystal glasses
:
it will be unforgettable for all of us, I think.
In the evening, we went back to the groom's place and they had arranged for some local
artists to perform traditional dancing and singing outside their house. It attracted all the neighbors
and there were at least 400 people watching and sharing the moment. The bride showed her
wedding ring to her friends and she really looked delighted. I am sure that their wedding inspired
many of the young women who had a chance to attend the wedding. Eventually, the family lit
spectacular fireworks to mark the end of the festivities
.
202
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