But your post also reminded me of this book I read in Junior High many years ago, called “Donald Duk” by Frank Chin. It’s geared towards kids, but the premise of the book is this Chinese-American kid, named Donald Duk, who hates being Chinese and really wants to be American (he also hates his name, since everyone makes fun of him). He is ashamed of his Chinese heritage but also does not quite feel like he fits in the US, either. A lot of the book centers around the Chinese culture, especially the Chinese New Year.

One of the other themes in the book deals with how the Chinese people have fit into our American culture, dealing with a lot of the stereotypes and history between China and America. It’s amazing to think that the Chinese have been coming to America for a long, long time…and yet it seems that many Americans are only now making the journey east to visit (or live in!) China.

In the Year of the Ox ….

For those of you science minded, there is some proof behind this stuff. The theory is, when the planets align a certain way, the energy on earth is different. Each person is born during a unique energy field. In the Chinese way of thinking, the energy cycles every 12 years.

http://chinese.astrology.com/ this is a really cool site. You can find out what your main animal is (based on year born) and check compatibility with a mate… but I wouldn’t take this all to heart. This is only what you are born into… there’s a whole nature vs. nurture argument. You can also have your daily horoscope emailed to you in a variety of different forms. Examples: momscopes, financescopes, lesbianscopes, beautyscope, etc. Is it legitimate? You be the judge. The calculator is correct in telling you the animal of your birth year though.

“According to Chinese mysterious astronomy, a person’s destiny can be determined by the position of the major planets at the person’s birth along with the positions of the Sun, Moon and comets and the person’s time of birth and Zodiac Sign.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_astrology

You have elements associated with your birth date, and 3 different animals… one for the year, one for the month and one for the time of day. One of my favorite massage therapists speaks about how the 3 animals interact (theoretically) and some are more dominant than others. It’s the doubled up ones that can be intense. For instance, a double ox will be the most stubborn strong minded, powerful, yet patient and honest upfront person you’ve ever seen. For those of you doing the math, Oxen would be turning 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 this year.

Now I know this all sounds silly, but I’ve classified a lot of truth to this philosophy. This stuff is usually spot on!

I think I’ll be going to this next Tuesday. I don’t see any other GSBA events that would prevent anyone else. We could go as a group and represent.