To have and to hold
In the taxi ride to our hotel Saturday night, we entertained ourselves with the interactive video ads in the back of the cab. This is the same system that I blogged about before, when I was educated about great cultural exports from Canada.
Among the current options on the system are gender-specific interactive quizzes that some company will use to determine something about purchase behavior (it even said that on the border of the screen). What was really great was that these were available in English. The men's option concerned opinions of the Shanghai Expo, especially the transit system and the Expo Passport (a booklet that Expo visitors can have stamped at the different pavilions--and for a good justification of this system go to this post from Shanghai Shiok!). The women's questions, though, mostly dealt with marriage.
I was surprised to see this survey translated into English. I wasn't sure if the answers were meant to represent still-held traditional beliefs or stereotypes.
This one above and the one below made me think of something that came up in one of my Chinese lessons in Shenzhen. We were reviewing ways to state likes and preferences and one of the translations I was supposed to do was "Are you satisfied with your husband?" I laughed, telling my tutor that this was a little too personal. She said that actually, no, since so many marriages in China have been arranged on one level or another, it wasn't really a personal question, but among those of my generation and older, a common topic of conversation.
These we saw Saturday night. The next morning, Sunday, we arrived at our old parish to find that the regular Mass was also a Nuptial Mass. It wasn't the wedding of anyone we knew, but that didn't mean we weren't allowed to be there. The Mass proceeded as any Sunday Mass would anywhere else in the world except for the addition of the Sacrament of Matrimony.
After the priest's procession, the bride and groom together walked up the aisle. No complicated parent send-off, no parade of attendants. Just the two of them. Well, the two of them and their flower girl.
After Father's homily, the couple were married. The Rite was the same as everywhere else in the Universal Church, though instead of repeating their vows after the priest, they read them to each other from the book. Their witnesses were what appeared by age and resemblance to be his father and her mother.
At the time of the offertory, the newly married couple and their witnesses joined the gift-bearers. In the US we normally invite family and friends to do this. I think I rather like the first act they perform together as husband and wife is to bring the wine and the bread to the altar.
Near the end of Mass, just before the dismissal, Father called them to the altar with their witnesses. They were to sign the marriage document (though from where I was sitting it looked to be very pretty, so perhaps this one was a ceremonial keepsake). He also presented them a gift from the parish, a beautiful framed picture of the Holy Family.
Father ended the Mass and exited with his altar servers. The new husband and wife remained a moment, and then they, too, recessed, but into the much expected shower of confetti.
All throughout the Mass, and especially during the vows, I couldn't help but think back to the cab ride the night before. Such a contrast!
Among the current options on the system are gender-specific interactive quizzes that some company will use to determine something about purchase behavior (it even said that on the border of the screen). What was really great was that these were available in English. The men's option concerned opinions of the Shanghai Expo, especially the transit system and the Expo Passport (a booklet that Expo visitors can have stamped at the different pavilions--and for a good justification of this system go to this post from Shanghai Shiok!). The women's questions, though, mostly dealt with marriage.
I was surprised to see this survey translated into English. I wasn't sure if the answers were meant to represent still-held traditional beliefs or stereotypes.
This one above and the one below made me think of something that came up in one of my Chinese lessons in Shenzhen. We were reviewing ways to state likes and preferences and one of the translations I was supposed to do was "Are you satisfied with your husband?" I laughed, telling my tutor that this was a little too personal. She said that actually, no, since so many marriages in China have been arranged on one level or another, it wasn't really a personal question, but among those of my generation and older, a common topic of conversation.
These we saw Saturday night. The next morning, Sunday, we arrived at our old parish to find that the regular Mass was also a Nuptial Mass. It wasn't the wedding of anyone we knew, but that didn't mean we weren't allowed to be there. The Mass proceeded as any Sunday Mass would anywhere else in the world except for the addition of the Sacrament of Matrimony.
After the priest's procession, the bride and groom together walked up the aisle. No complicated parent send-off, no parade of attendants. Just the two of them. Well, the two of them and their flower girl.
After Father's homily, the couple were married. The Rite was the same as everywhere else in the Universal Church, though instead of repeating their vows after the priest, they read them to each other from the book. Their witnesses were what appeared by age and resemblance to be his father and her mother.
At the time of the offertory, the newly married couple and their witnesses joined the gift-bearers. In the US we normally invite family and friends to do this. I think I rather like the first act they perform together as husband and wife is to bring the wine and the bread to the altar.
Near the end of Mass, just before the dismissal, Father called them to the altar with their witnesses. They were to sign the marriage document (though from where I was sitting it looked to be very pretty, so perhaps this one was a ceremonial keepsake). He also presented them a gift from the parish, a beautiful framed picture of the Holy Family.
Father ended the Mass and exited with his altar servers. The new husband and wife remained a moment, and then they, too, recessed, but into the much expected shower of confetti.
All throughout the Mass, and especially during the vows, I couldn't help but think back to the cab ride the night before. Such a contrast!
Comments
Like Melanie, I love when children are baptized at the regular Mass. There's nothing like welcoming a child into the Church as a Church.