The Memoria of a Geisha

I read this book mostly in the evenings in the past few weeks.  Besides learning many facts about geisha’s lives around 1940s, I found a true Cinderella story within this book.

When little Chio is born in a remote poor fishing village, no one can imagine that she would grow into a graceful artist who wears glamorous kimonos.  Fate takes her into a slavery geisha house. With a pair of unusual blue-gray eyes, a kind heart and a lovely figure, she attracts much attention.  She also makes herself a victim of jealousy.  Chio’s dream for being a geisha is almost ruined until by a turn of fortune she meets the Chairmen while she is crying by a river.  The Chairmen wipes her tears with his handkerchief and gives her some coins for food.  For the first time in her samll and miserable life, little Chio realizes that there is kindness and  hope in this world which she can hold on to and live for.  She then keeps his handkerchief close to her heart.

The chairman likes little Chio and helps her becoming Sayuri through Chio’s memtor Memeha. With the aid of Memeha’s teaching, Sayuri defeats many vicious attacks directly coming from her rival — Hasumomo.   Eventually, She finds a loving life with the Chairmen after painfully rejecting another serious suitor.

This story is about enduring hardship.  Not only that, to me, it’s more about keeping one’s dreams alive and taking actions in fulfilling them.

River of No Return

The Syrian Bride

The Druze bride Mona is about to marry a famous Syrian TV comedian Tallel.  She is dressed up in an impeccable white gown.  Her big day brings back both of her brothers from foreign countries home.  Mona’s sister and mother are busy feeding the guests and preparing for her departure to Syria to join with her husband-to-be. 

The tensions are building up as the wedding is getting closer.  Mona has never seen Tallel, except from TV.  Her political activist pro-Syria  father is on probation and is forbidden to see her off.  Her elder brother who married to a Russian doctor is not forgiven and received by the village’s religious leaders including their father upon his arrival.  Her sister’s marriage is in crisis…The combative relationship between Israel and Syria is not likely to make her crossing of the border easy.  And what’s more bothersome is that once she is on the other side of the border, she may never be allowed to return home… 

In this movie, Mona’s sister Amal is the center character.  She is a free spirit and the back-bone of her two teenage daughters and the extended family.  Amal has sacrified her youth raising her two kids and both daughters are grown up.  She is determined to seek a different path other than the assumed one by their tradition.  I am becoming familiar with Ham Ahbass  after watched two films in both she played a leading role.  The other film that I have seen is call the Visitors.   I can relate her extraordinary acting style to that of Meryl Streep who is a top  notch American actress.

A purple Orchid

My mother is one of the most romantic people whom I have ever known.  She loves flowers and every beautiful thing in this world: music, architecture, movies, stories, fine quality in people…Many times she shares with me what touches her, thus I know she her taste very well.

On my way to visit her last time, I picked up a purple orchid from a local Safeway store.  Her face lit up like a Christmas tree with all the colorful bulbs when she received me at the door.  “What a beautiful flower!”, she exclaimed.  Then for the next two minutes, she elaborated what she could see in the flower.  I was happy that I had found something she likes with very little effort.

Mother suggested me to take the flower with me while I was about to leave.  Mother said since this flower is so delicate so that she was afraid that she would be able to keep it alive for long.  “You bought me the same flower last year, but it died eventually”, said she.   “Mom, this flower will keep booming for at least two months.  Even if it will die, it still lasts much longer than a bouquet of cut flowers”.   “But why not you take it home and enjoy it yourself?”, she suggested. 

I was at the door at the moment.  “Mom, I won’t”.  I was getting slightly frustrated.  “Mom, I want you to have it.  If you really don’t want it, give it to a friend or your next door neighbors”.   Upon hearing this, she finally said “Okay, okay, I will keep it”. 

Oh, what a lovely mother!

My favorite Rod Stewart

Gone With The Wind

The first time that I knew the title when I was a kid and saw my sister was reading the book.  I didn’t like the Chinese translation that much, so I managed to finish only the first several chapters.  A few years later, during my college, a friend of mine treated me with the movie while I visited her.  While I was watching the movie, I decided that I must read the book in its entirety and in its original language.  Last month, I was able to finally fulfill the wish that I made some twenty years ago.

The book opens with a smash to the dream in which Scarlet had been living:  Ashley whom Scarlet O’hara had wished to marry is marrying a plain-looking Melanie.  The book ends with the fulfillment of Scarlet’s dream and her rediscovery of herself.  To many people Gone with Wind is all about love, but to me, the book is all about characters – the authors’ own definition of a real woman (Scarlet), an idea woman (Melanie), a false gentleman (Ashley), and an ideal man (Rhett).

The story is built on Scarlet’s three marriages in the setting of American civil war.  Being self-centered, strong-minded and out-spoken, the beautiful southern belle is the only woman that Rhett sees real and wants the most.  He only gets his chance when Scarlet tragically lost her second husband.   If scarlet’s first marriage is for spite, the second is for money.  Then the third one is for both money and some fun, as Rhett is a rich man and is the only one who can fully reads Scarlet’s mind and knows how to support her needs and make her happy.

To my surprise, unlike many other books, Margret spends a lot of ink in depicting the secondary characters — the perfect moral woman and the false gentleman who isn’t good at anything but poetry and music.  Ashley’s hesitation in rejecting Scarlet’s love creates an unwanted illusion.  Later on, his jealousy towards Rhett almost costs Scarlet’s third marriage.  Melanie’s sisterly affection toward Scarlet and her tolerance to her frequent misbehavior make the character a little unreal but is a nice contrast to the main character.

As for the main character, Scarlet, she is more than a real woman: she is as equal as man in supporting a family and providing protection.  In many ways, she is better at running a business than a man.  She is the true master and protector of Tara.  To her match, though Rhett isn’t a gentleman by the society’s standards, he is capable of taking every opportunity to his own advantage.  He is a great lover who eventually wins over Scarlet’s circle including the stubborn Mammy.  Besides, he is an affectionate father who does whatever it takes to win over the society for the sake of his daughter’s future.

After I finished reading the entire book, I completely adore Scarlet and Rhett for their inner strengths, passion, and gumptions.  Like the author, I believe that their separation is only temporary and Scarlet will eventually win Rhett back and to live with him happily thereafter.

青藏高原

 

Because of Love

 

This duet has a beautiful melody and lyrics.  It is simple but touching.  It’s easy to sing too.  I will try it with my hubby later.

Zeng Ge Ge – Flute

 

This song about Spring outing, performed by one of the best Chinese flute artests.   You can hear birds singing in it.  The melody is playful and gay. 

P.S. Zeng gege is a renowed Chineses classical musician who is specilized in flutes.  

 

 

On the opposite of the above one, this song is about autumn by a river.  It’s a bit melancholy as if someone is in a  meditation.  No other sound can be heard except the flute itself.  The flute is telling a mysterious story…Wait, you must wait for the best.  The end of the song is brighter, as if one wakes up from darkness and finally sees sunshine.

Roses that Never Die

  She walks toward the bridge from the nearby port where she usually parks her car; she needs a place and some quiet time of her own to think about the whole thing from the beginning, and what to say if he calls again.

It was yesterday when he finally called, answered all of her doubts and shared his secret in an hour.  To her surprised, she was not as happy as she thought she would be.  All of the sudden, all the regrets are alleviated.  “Did you notice me when I was sitting at the table next to yours at the library?”  There was a long pause.  “Yeah…but…I couldn’t break up with her.”  They were different and they have grown apart even more as if they were put in two trains that ran different schedule; only hers was running much faster.  He was in her dreams, but she wasn’t in his as he didn’t have any……When she arrived at the Washington DC airport eighteen years ago, She had promised to herself that she would start a new life and leave everything in the past behind.  Just like locking some pieces of precious jewelry in a treasure box, and never touch them again…

But now she has to open the box and reexamine each piece in it again.  A breeze blows gently into her hair.  Thoughts have taken her to the last summer prior to college.  It was then when she heard about his girlfriend from one of their teachers.  She couldn’t believe her ears; all along he had given her an impression that he had always liked her…

On a summer afternoon, when she was about to leave the classroom, she turned her head and realized that they were the only two in the room.  He looked up and looked at her in the eyes.   A tint of sunlight shone upon his face, she noticed for the first time that he looked so handsome and some usual lights in his eyes.  She didn’t understand why she was in a panic and hastened away.  Since then, she would no longer turn her head before leaving, for she knew he would be always there, sitting in the last row, waiting to leave after her.  Boys had been teasing him for why whenever she went to the blackboard to present her solutions to complex math problems, he would follow and occupy the other half of the board to offer his.  Though she was not convinced that he liked her and she would hope that he did.  She wondered about what was behind his forehead that looked so intelligent.  She vividly remembered the first time they had ever spoken to each other was at the graduation ceremony.  He came over to ask which high school she was to attend and was disappointed to learn that she was going to another city.  She respected him for he was diligent and smart.  He looked like a Roman statue: a bit cold and reserved.  What set him apart from the other boys were the lights of determination and confidence in his eyes.

Now three years had passed.  She understood more about herself.  None of the other boys had impressed since they were immature.  She didn’t understand her new feeling which she had never experienced before that was now when she thought of him she would feel butterflies rising from her stomach all the way up into her head.  She would feel a bit giddy…One the way to the teacher’s home, she wished that she could ran into him and this time she would be ready to gaze into his eyes. 

Cars rash by, a loud horn pulls her out from those thoughts.  Oh yeah, now she remembers what happened in the four college years.  Fate was playing a trick on her when she saw him again at the new students’ orientation, sitting in a seat right in front of her.  He welcomed her and told her that he was in the same department.  Now they were classmates again.  But he was no longer the one what she liked before…  She was speechless and couldn’t utter a sound.  She was so angry.  The same anger rose from the bottom of her heart every time they met in the campus.  Soon she found out who his girlfriend was, as she could not avoid noticing them standing in front of her dormitory each night when she returned from the classrooms.  Obviously they had talked about her.  What did they want? His shallow girlfriend was to proclaim her status; he was to cry for a rescue — his face was not a happy face, the confident lights were replaced by foggy doubts.  She couldn’t be even angrier.  If he had cared about her, he should have asked for her hands first.  If he hadn’t, then he didn’t have to bother.  Besides even he still cared about her, he would not worth her as he was no longer the innocent determined young man that she knew.  He looked different.  Did his girl-friend worth him?  If so he was then just as low as she was. 

 Hadn’t she given him the last chance? She asked herself.  Yes, she did.  She recalled the situation when one day they met on a bus, and how he approached and pleaded her to study together in the coming summer.  She had made up her mind when they reached the gate of the campus: there was no way she could stand in between him and his girlfriend.  And she told him she had other engagements.  But she started to regret as soon as she arrived to her dorm.  How much did she know him?  Was she sure that she would never like him, even as a friend?  When she ran into him in a library later, she found a seat at the nearby table next to his.  She was hoping that he could come over to invite her for a walk.  She could perhaps forgive him, and they could even be just good friends.  But nothing happened within the next two days…

Back then, she knew that she could find the sacred feelings again and be happy.  She looks at the small sea shell that she had found earlier by the port.  Isn’t this one more precious than those which are still sitting on the bottom of the sea, since it had endured many stormy nights?  It must have a unique journey reaching to the shore.  Isn’t it true that old memories are just as genuine as this one in her hand?  New hopes always present themselves even in the darkest moment of life; they are just like vigorous roses always come back after rigid winters. 

An airplane flies above her head leaving two long silky trails.  She has reached the other end of the bridge.  It is a peaceful Sunday afternoon and it’s time to go home.