I found out this morning that dictator Fidel Castro has died at the age of 90. I try to never be joyous at the death of a person, but I am not that sorry to see him go. The response from the President elect and his Vice-President entirely encapsulated my feelings, which can be read here. I hope for a glorious and democratic future for the great people of Cuba.

I was invited by Kevin and Aaron, two friends from church, to their apartment for Thanksgiving dinner. They are really good guys, who I am planning to go on vacation with in January. I have not had a Thanksgiving dinner, with turkey, since three years ago when I ate with my friend, Mike, and his family. Those were good times.

I thought Aaron’s taobao bought turkey was cooked to perfection. Great job there! There was also bread stuffing, gravy, green beans, yams, soup, and my contribution of BLCU cafeteria broccoli. Don’t let that description fool you though. BLCU cafeteria broccoli is fantastic. I eat it almost every day since broccoli is one of my favorite vegetables.

All in all, it was a grand night. There was a desert party afterwards, but I could not stay since I had to prepare for a presentation the next morning. Also, I am trying to decrease my waistline. Here is a picture of (from the left) me, Kevin, Will (another friend from church), Aaron, and a mix of people of church friends and people from Kevin and Aaron’s school, Amerlish.

On Wednesday night, BLCU set up a night of music for the students. We took a bus down to the west side of Tian Tan in south Beijing. The traffic was a nightmare, but we made it in time for the show. Originally, I thought it was going to Beijing opera (京剧), which caused my enthusiasm to plummet faster than a rocket on re-entry. This is because Beijing opera usually lasts three hours (which is two hours too long) and usually causes me severe headaches after. This is due to the crashing symbols and high-pitched voices. As I untactfully told my first Chinese teacher, Beijing opera sounds to me like two cats in a bag.

This, fortunately, was not in that traditional and culturally important form. It was a mere hour and half long. The performance was simply beautiful to see. The costumes and sets were gorgeous and magical in their delicacy. Even better, the set was 3-D, with birds moving in the background. The opera singers’ voices, especially the lead soprano, took one to heights of love and despair. If you cannot tell, I enjoyed it.

The opera was named 神女, which is Chinese for goddess. The story is of a phoenix that falls in love with a man and he with her. Her mother, the Queen of the Phoenixes, and his father, the king, are mortal enemies. He keeps trying to hunt her, as he and his son are famous hunters. Eventually their love is found out, but they cannot remain apart as their parents demand. The humans and the phoenixes go to war, where an arrow from the father’s bow misses the Phoenix Queen and hits her daughter who was in the act of protecting her mother with her body. Great filial piety from that one. Anyway, she goes down and both sides realize that the girl is dead and her love is devastated. The arrow only hit her amulet, however, which freed a captive dragon. This saved her life and the dragon was a sign for peace. If the story seems familiar, it is Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending.