Ok, now going to number 2 of writing challenge. Hopefully this one will be better than the first ^^...
It's a really nice day with glorious sunny and gentle wind. We are in the most beautiful days in Ha Noi, the weather is always comfortable at this time, it's not too hot like in the middle of the summer, it's not too cold as the winter. It's Autumn, everyday you get up you feel stronger, more active and happier, you want to get out of your bed sooner to feel a fresh air, to see the high blue sky and the white clouds. In my Opinion, what's around you really affects your health, your mood... I know there is a science about this called "geomancy", it tells how the environment takes effect on your life, but I'm not going to write about geomancy, I'm going to write about something sadly....in such a nice day - cemetery. :D
What makes me write about the cemetery is weather. everything in nice weather looks more beautiful, even it's a cemetery :D. I can see a cemetery from my office through the glass wall. Normally, that cemetery brings me a bored feeling especially in the day that dark cloud comes up and it rains... so bored. The thing is it doesn't bring me that feeling today ^^...
It's the cemetery that buries people's bones, their last houses. In Vietnam, dead people will be buried twice. When a person dies, their family buries him in a cemetery and 3 years later, his grave will be dug up. His family will collect all of his bones. After clean up the bones they put them into a wooden box. This box is very small, it's much smaller than the first one. When everything is done, his family will bury the box of bones in another cemetery, normally, it's next to the first cemetery. This is a place where people live forever after death. Vietnamese believe that there is a life after real life, they believe that the graves which bury the boxes of bones are dead people's houses, so they try to make their grave to be beauty and big. people often are buried around their ancestors so that they can get closed to each others just like when they was alive.
Cemetery is the place where rarely people come to. Parents often tell their children don't go hang out near any cemetery, Adults don't like to go there, everyone doesn't like to live near cemetery. There are only a 3 times people go to cemetery (Of course you can go to the cemetery anytime you want, to remember dead people, but 3 times I tell here is what every family always do): on the day of the death and on the TET festival (TET is lunar new year which is the longest and biggest festival in Vietnam), families go to cemetery before and after TET, on the day before TET, they tell the dead people go home and join the parties, and when TET is finished, families go to say good-bye and let dead people back to their houses (graves). When people go to cemetery they clean the graves, put fresh flowers, cakes, fruits to the graves and light the joss-stick...
I think the absence of people causes the atmosphere in cemetery is always sad, boring.... I heard in Guatemala cemetery is always fun, what do you think?
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PS: Done, well... it's longer than the first one, took me 45 minutes... How can I do this with less of time? :D... Oh, I have taken a photo of the cemetery outside my office, it's here: ^^
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