I'll Take Three Roman Candles Please

One day when I was exploring Qingdao by myself I had a notable experience. I walked up to this little stand that was selling things. At first I honestly thought they were selling fireworks. I purchased what looked like Roman Candles, and after I bought them the people around began to get all excited. Of course, I could not understand a word they were saying, but I could tell they were trying to give me some kind of directions. They were pointing at a gate, pointing at poor beggars, and pointing at an old lady. I was extremely confused. Then one guy put his hands together like he was praying. I realized that this was some type of religious place. Next this old lady walked up and is holding these cards. I gave her some money and she had me pick three cards. I quickly figure out that I was getting my fortune read. She opened up each card and explained to me in Chinese what they meant, again I have no idea what she is telling me. After I got my fortune read they point me in the direction of this gate. I walk through it and after I round the corner everything makes sense. There was a Buddhist temple and the Roman Candles that I had bought were actually Buddhist incense sticks. When I went up for a closer look I discovered a pit where people put their sticks and light them. I didn't have a lighter so I just stuck the ones that I bought in the ash and went around to check the place out. As I was walking around there was a Chinese couple that was also there. They thought me being there was about the funniest thing they had ever seen in their entire life. I thought that it was humorous that they were so amused by me so I took a picture of them. I took it through a tree so they are a little hard to see.

As I was walking around I got to thinking, I just paid that lady to read my fortune and I have no idea what she said. I walked back down to the bottom and showed her my camera and pointed to the cards she had, and she figured out that I wanted to take a picture of them. I took a picture of each one. If anyone can help me with a translation it would be awesome.

Thanks to everybody who has been putting up comments. I do have to say sorry to Deborah. I have not seen a single egg roll since I have been over here. At least not any that are at all similar to the ones back home. I think that egg rolls, like fortune cookies, are a creation of American Chinese restaurants. To Erica, thanks for the advice about looking out for the chicken because it is most likely dog. However, at most restaurants dog has its own section on the menu. Yes Lee, Dr. Q did give me some good sleeping pills that knocked me out on the plane. When I woke up the person next to me said I was snoring really loud. Also, help yourself to all the food I left at the apartment. I left you plenty of Jaeger in the freezer, but I am sure you already noticed that.

My classes have been great so far. I haven't had very many yet. So far I only have three classes. One is a new concept class that is for older students, age 15-20. The other two are little kids. The students in my youngest class is about five years old, and the other students are about nine. The kids are really cute but the little ones haven't figured out that I can't speak Chinese. They walk up and try to talk to me and I am not sure what to say back to them. I will talk more about my classes later on.

I have put some pictures up on photobucket.com. If you look on the left side of the screen there is a link that you can use to access them. If you have any questions or statements don't hesitate to post them. I have also had some problems posting pictures on here, check back and I will add more.

Quote of the Week:

I had a stick of Carefree gum, but it didn't work. I felt pretty good while I was blowing that bubble, but as soon as the gum lost its flavor, I was back to pondering my mortality. -Mitch Hedberg