Chong Yeong Festival aka Ancestors' Day

"No school today!" usually means it's a special Chinese or Bahai holiday.  We're not very familiar with either the national Chinese or religious Bahai holidays, so often these holidays take us by surprise.  But no complaints from us, we enjoy a no-school day and we often learn some interesting facts about these new holidays.

Recently, the Chinese holiday known in Macau as the Chung Yeung Festival or Ancestors' Day was observed.  As I understand, this festival was originally a day to protect against potential dangers.  The Chinese participate in activities that promote cleansing and healing such as climbing a high mountain, drinking chrysanthemum wine, eating Chongyang Gao (rice cake), or wearing the Zhuyu plant.  It is also a day to appease their dead ancestors.  They clean and repair graves and burial sites and then leave a generous food offering.  

Since, this holiday meant a no-school/no-work day for us and we didn't have any ancestors' graves to visit, we unknowingly followed the tradition of climbing a mountain.  We were pleasantly surprised at the elaborate celebrations we stumbled upon during our hike.

Starting at Hac Sa Bay, we climbed the Alto de Coloane to the Statue of the Goddess A-Ma and the A-ma Temple and then down the other side of the mountain to the Panda Pavillion.  

  Part way up the mountain we had a great view of Hac Sa Bay.

The Statue of the Goddess A-ma, the goddess of seafarers, stands atop the mountain. 

The A-ma Temple is one of the oldest temples in Macau dating back to 1488.

  

When we reached the A-ma Temple, we discovered great celebrations in progress for the Chong Yeong Festival.  We caught the tail end of a big parade, saw crowds of people buying and burning incense, and walked around the temple.      

 

The temple and adjoining buildings were elaborately decorated in many kinds of beautiful artwork.  

The outside columns and pavings were our favorites.  

We were absolutely amazed at the fine details of the granite carvings.

We finished our hike at the Panda Pavillon, where we showed "Uncle" Chris the famous pandas.

We had a fun day hiking, seeing the different landscapes of Macau, and learning more about it's culture.  It was a great no-school-holiday Macau adventure.

Sledding in Macau

Fall weather is upon us meaning day-time temperatures are in the 70's and overnight lows may drop to the mid to high 60's.  To us, it's perfect weather; to the natives, it's cold.  While we're still comfortable in shorts and t-shirts, most people are wearing long sleeves, sweaters, and jackets.  We've even seen a few wearing coats, scarfs, beanies, and snow boots!!

A few weeks ago, the school transitioned to a "winter uniform".  My kids were NOT excited about wearing long sleeves and pants but they're getting used to them.  Abby even likes the wearing a tie and knee high socks.  Plus, Ian's uniform (the same as Cade's and Abby's PE uniform) is super comfortable.

While we enjoy the perfect weather, our family and friends in Utah are getting buried in an early season snow storm.  Reports of more than 2 feet of snow at our house makes me so glad we don't have to shovel the snow this year (have fun shoveling Bobby and Amy).  But seeing the pictures of the beautiful, white covered ground, silly snowmen, snow forts, and early ski trips, we're a bit jealous.  We're really going to miss our nighttime snowball fights, learning to ski, and sledding at the golf course this winter.  

To help ease some of our homesickness, our friends took us to a sledding hill not far from our apartment.  Who would have guessed there's a place to sled on a little island in the South China Sea?

 The sledding hill wasn't covered in snow but we still had a great time!

Abby's Day

Our sweet, little Abby is growing up so fast.
As you can see, she's quickly becoming a beautiful, young woman.

Our move to Macau has been challenging for Abby but many of those challenges are helping her to discover more about herself and life in general.  One thing she learned was how much she wanted to be baptized and have the Holy Ghost.  Abby's been looking forward to and preparing for her baptism for a long time.  Visa issues and other scheduling conflicts extended that waiting time a little longer.  But, Abby was patient and understanding and allowed that time to only increase her desire and excitement to be baptized.

Abby knew that being baptized in Macau would be a unique opportunity.  It also meant family members and friends living in the United States could not attend the baptismal service.  Abby missed all of you who could not be there but she felt your love and support, especially with the many thoughts and messages that she received from you.

As Abby and I try to describe this special event, please understand that it's hard to put into words or show in pictures just how wonderful this day really was. 

For the baptism ceremony, Abby wore the same white dress that I wore when I was baptized.  Although, she was not fond of the dress style a few months ago, she recently felt the sentimental value of the dress and wanted to be baptized in it (plus, it's so much cuter than the jumpsuit alternative).

Two other sisters, Aida and Nena, were also baptized with Abby.  

The baptismal program included a talk on baptism by a cute sister named Golda (Abby and Leah call her the "pretty, pretty nails" sister because that's what she says every time she sees Abby's and Leah's painted fingernails and toenails), a beautiful musical number (I'll Find You My Friend) by the sisters in the Branch, and my talk about the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Then Abby, Aida, and Nena were baptized.  Abby almost forgot to plug her nose before going under the water.  I was worried she'd get water up her nose or mouth and come up coughing but she came out of the water with a big, beautiful smile on her face.  As I helped Abby change her clothes, she kept telling me how happy she was.  She knew she had made a good decision to be baptized.  Following the baptisms, Aida and Nena took an opportunity to share their testimony and feelings about their baptism.  Abby was a little too shy to share her feelings but I thought her smile said it all.  To close the meeting, Cade offered a very nice, thoughtful prayer.  

Following the baptismal service, Abby received some gifts and a bouquet of flowers.  

This is a very happy girl!

The confirmations were performed later in the day during our sacrament meeting.  In addition to receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, Abby also received a beautiful blessing.  As Kyle spoke the words of the blessing, you could tell he was overcome by emotions.  The Spirit was felt strongly by him, Abby, and many of us listening.  Abby returned to her seat beaming from ear to ear.  Again she whispered to me how happy she was.   

Being baptized and confirmed by Dad are very memorable father/daughter moments.

Abby's day turned out to be a very special one that she will remember always.

We're so glad Abby is part of our family.  We love her so much.

Abby's I Can't Wait Until I'm 8 Video

"Uncle" Visits

It's been 3 months (91 days) since we moved to Macau. One of the hardest parts about moving half way around the world is being so far away from family and friends. Technology is great and we do get to talk with and often times see our loved ones through a computer or phone screen but it's still not the same as being together in person.  So, when Kyle's co-workers or business associates come to town, we get excited about a real person visit. Often we go to dinner with them or show them a little part of Macau.  They may be strangers to the kids and I but we call them "uncle" and automatically a bond exists with these visitors.  Their brief visit seems more meaningful to us. They may not have come to Macau to see the Kisebach family but the Kisebach family thinks they flew thousands of miles just to visit us.  

It's been 8 years since we (meaning Kyle and I - the kids weren't around or too little to remember) last saw Uncle Vic.  During a business trip, Vic was able to have a "catch-up-on-old-times" dinner with Kyle one evening and a night out with the family on another evening.  

We showed him our apartment, walked through Old Taipa, tasted some new foods at a multicultural festival, played a few games, and ate a nice dinner. The kids loved telling him stories and jokes and pointed out cool things along our way. You'd never guess the kids just met Uncle Vic.  It was a great visit and we hope to see him again.

Our visit with Uncle Chris (Kyle's co-worker) was fun not only because he brought a bag full of gifts and candy from Grandma Jan but also because he took the attention off us when we were in public with him.  Nobody stared, pointed, or wanted pictures of the blonde kids when a 7 foot tall, red head was around.  He was definitely the center of attention at the restaurant, on the street, and especially on our hike in Coloane.    

We've also had some memorable visits with Uncle Vern and Uncle Mark (sorry - no pictures). And, like the other uncle visits, the kids have felt very comfortable with these almost strangers. Even Leah, who can be quite shy around new people, especially men, has no problem interacting with the uncles.  

So, to all you good people reading this blog, come visit the Kisebach family in Macau. We'll call you "Uncle", "Auntie", "Gramma", "Paca", or "Cousin" because if you travel half way around the world and stop by to see us, you're FAMILY!

Kyle's Note: By the way all you ACTUAL uncles... this is a nod to you; our kids can deal with total strangers as long as we call them "uncle," because you're all individually and collectively that cool.

Halloween in Macau

Halloween is not celebrated here nor in many of the other native countries of those living in Macau.  So celebrating this fun holiday was a bit of a challenge.  Only a few stores had a small amount of  Halloween candy, a few costume accessories (like Mickey Mouse ears, oversized glasses, or a tiara), and very little if any decorations.  Pumpkins were especially hard to find and very expensive.  Despite the lack of resources, we still managed to celebrate Halloween.  We covered our windows with homemade Halloween decorations, ate chili for dinner (although it wasn't Mom's wheat chili), and even dressed up to go out and get a treat.  

On the day of Halloween, by pure luck, I stumbled upon a book that made our Halloween a true success.  It was a pop-out mask book for costume parties.  It had masks for monsters, fairies, animals, and more.  It was perfect!  The kids spent a few hours coloring the masks after school and loved every minute.  

 All their hard work could not go to waste so we devised a plan to do our own version of trick-or-treating.  Each of us wore a mask as we walked through Old Taipa (usually a pretty populated area of town) to get a special treat (frozen yogurt with all the toppings you want).

 As we walked through our apartment building we got a few smiles and thumbs up, along the streets most people walked by with little or no expression except one group that laughed hysterically, and in the lighted, shop area we got a few funny looks and lots of double takes.

It wasn't a typical trick-or-treat outing but we still had a good time, ate a yummy treat, and have a Halloween night we'll never forget.