The trip came a full circle as our tour returned to Xiamen. At my suggestion (although some might call it a full blown tantrum at the thought of wasting our last evening shopping), we took in a cultural show in our final evening. The multi-talented troupe demonstrated various forms of local dances, as well as sang in the local Fujian (Hokkien) dialect. There was also some audience participation- and that's where things got a bit pear shaped, because out of four audient participation segments, and with an entire audience to choose from, the cast somehow chose me a whopping three times to go up there.
Attention hog that I am, I loved it all, of course. The first time was luck: I held one of the tickets that was randomly drawn, and so went up to play a local gambling game. I didn't win anything but left with a consolation prize of a deck of cards. Next time up, they were looking for volunteers to do a local dance, and despite having two left feet I managed to cling on to the girl and get the rhythm right. So far, so good.
The big finale, though, was a re-enactment of a local wedding. Traditionally, of course, weddings are arranged by matchmakers- and so the dancers playing the matchmakers (all three of them) perched on the edge of the stage, looking out at the back of the audience, looking for a hapless groom. Being in the second row, I thought I was safe and concentrated on the events unfolding behind them on the stage. Next thing I know, a burst of laughter erupts around me and I turn my head to realise that the three matchmakers are looking... right at me.
Hiding under my hat made no difference; they came and got me and next thing I know I was wearing the sash and getting 'married' off to a girl I hoped was pretty (a very accurate sentiment, for in the old days men didn't meet their brides before marriage). I did the traditional bowing, got to raise her veil- and to my immense relief, she turned out to be quite pretty. Unfortunately, I can't remember for the life of me what she looks like.
As my cousin observed later, I've undergone basically all the proper rituals for marriage; even my family was there to bless the event. However, my grandfather, despite having long been nagging us older grandchildren to get married, was unimpressed: "I'm only interested in the real thing, not this kind of thing!"
"Plus the great-grandchild that comes with the real thing, right?"
"Exactly!!"
Posted by pj at October 24, 2004 02:56 PM