Weddings, weddings, weddings ......

No, I'm not getting married! But, several people I know are, so I thought I'd take a moment to consider cultural differences. I have never been to a Chinese wedding, but got my first invite today. It's a lovely pink card with the words, 'Forever joined in happiness. Love makes the woeld go round' - yes, love does make the woeld go around! Unsure of who I knew well enough to receive this invite, I curiously opened it up. I have been invited to the wedding of Mr Meng's (our school driver) daughter who I have never met before (in fact, I didn't even know that Mr Meng had a daughter!). And not just me, but the entire staff! If we are all invited, I wonder how big the wedding is?! Unfortunately, the wedding is during the holidays so I won't be able to attend, but I was appreciative of the invite. The wedding is being held at a hotel in Wuxi at the very precise time of 11.18 am on a Saturday morning. According to a colleague, getting married at a time with an '8' in it, is very lucky. '8' is a very lucky number, whilst all Chinese people will shy away from the number '4' whose character (word) sounds very similar to the character for death. Then we got chatting about presents - what do you take to a Chinese wedding? It seems that any present will do and my Chinese colleague thought it was hilarious that we gave toasters, crockery and dishwashers as gifts to newly weds. And dresses? Again, according to my colleague, a lot of Chinese women are going for western style dresses (think lacy, puffy meringue dresses) rather than the traditional red and gold dresses that bring luck. I've never been to a friend's wedding before, so was quite looking forward to going to this Chinese one to make comparisons when I head home at Christmas time for two weddings. Both Australians are being held in very different settings - one on the beach and one at a winery - but both I know will be beautiful, relaxed and fun! Now, I just need to find a man ...... (or not, I'm having too much fun on my own at the moment!