HAPPY CANADA DAY!
Yay for Canada! We celebrate Canada Day a full week after Quebec's National Holiday. Simon doesn't celebrate Canada Day, only the Quebec National Holiday, something I didn't think actually happened, for some reason. Out in BC, I've never fully realised what it means to be a "separatist." Simon's not a full-blown separatist, mind you, just a patriotic Quebec nationalist. Before coming to China I didn't know there was a Quebec National Holiday.
Talking about National Holidays, I'm excited by the fact that I'll be in France on July 14th - France's National Holiday! :-) And that's the thing, what does it mean to celebrate your National Holiday? You watch the local parade and then the fireworks at night - if there are any in this security-crazy society. What does it actually mean to not "celebrate" Canada Day?
Anyway, on this day I feel a little obligated to post the necessary "Canadian" link. So here's a look at how Canada Day has been celebrated in the past and across the country...what makes us "Canadian" and all.
What I really wanted to talk about was ants. I've been fascinated by them since I was a child and here's an article that says that they have an interior mechanism that allows to them to know how far they've gone and how far they've got to go in order to return to their point of departure. What I find most astounding is their ability to learn from past experience and adapt so quickly to change - the scientists manipulated the ants' legs (either making them longer or shorter), so obviously during the first test the ants had difficulty, but afterwards they took this change into account and adapted their pedometre accordingly...amazing!!!
In other significant news: England lost and France won!!! We watched both games here in Beijing. The England-Portugal game started at 11 PM. We watched it at Jorgen's house because he's leaving for Germany with Hannoh today (Sunday) and we had a cozy good-bye party in his apartment. We then went to eat chuar (meat on a stick) at an out-door terrace by north gate, where we could watch the first half of the France-Brazil match on a small TV set placed on a table in front of the outside eating area. The game started at 3 AM and we left at half-time. We finished the match at Katia's house - we missed the goal!!! But we were very happy France beat Brazil...sorry Lucas!!!
Talking about National Holidays, I'm excited by the fact that I'll be in France on July 14th - France's National Holiday! :-) And that's the thing, what does it mean to celebrate your National Holiday? You watch the local parade and then the fireworks at night - if there are any in this security-crazy society. What does it actually mean to not "celebrate" Canada Day?
Anyway, on this day I feel a little obligated to post the necessary "Canadian" link. So here's a look at how Canada Day has been celebrated in the past and across the country...what makes us "Canadian" and all.
What I really wanted to talk about was ants. I've been fascinated by them since I was a child and here's an article that says that they have an interior mechanism that allows to them to know how far they've gone and how far they've got to go in order to return to their point of departure. What I find most astounding is their ability to learn from past experience and adapt so quickly to change - the scientists manipulated the ants' legs (either making them longer or shorter), so obviously during the first test the ants had difficulty, but afterwards they took this change into account and adapted their pedometre accordingly...amazing!!!
In other significant news: England lost and France won!!! We watched both games here in Beijing. The England-Portugal game started at 11 PM. We watched it at Jorgen's house because he's leaving for Germany with Hannoh today (Sunday) and we had a cozy good-bye party in his apartment. We then went to eat chuar (meat on a stick) at an out-door terrace by north gate, where we could watch the first half of the France-Brazil match on a small TV set placed on a table in front of the outside eating area. The game started at 3 AM and we left at half-time. We finished the match at Katia's house - we missed the goal!!! But we were very happy France beat Brazil...sorry Lucas!!!
posted by Caro at 11:42 AM
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