Shanghai Calling #5-- Death & All His Friends

Credits go to Coldplay for the title. If you haven't checked out their new album, please do so, since it came out yesterday. I've heard it's somewhat of a departure from their usual style, but the pre-released singles I've actually listened to ("Violet Hill" and "Viva La Vida") still sound like typical Coldplay. Regardless of if it's the same or different, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends is getting generally favorable reviews and is the #1 selling album on Amazon. That's good news, since their last album, X & Y, wasn't so great, in my opinion. Unfortunately, I won't be able to hear this new album until I get back. :( Moving on...good news! After a bit of research, I've figured out how to get Blogspot URLs to show up! Problem solved!
This morning, we visited my grandmother's grave (hence my post title). In the pouring rain. :( She died two years ago, during our last visit here. Her death was not sudden, though; she had been sick for many years. I did not know her very well, and that is the case for my other family members as well. I recall feeling awkward at the funeral because everyone was bawling, but I didn't really react to anything. I'm not a very emotional person in general, and not knowing her like everyone else contributed to my "absence of feelings". The Chinese deal with death very differently from us Americans. I won't elaborate too much, but funerals and burials are very tradition-based. Specific rituals have to be performed at certain times. If you want any detailed descriptions, I can tell you some other time. :) But back to today. The cemetery was on the outskirts of the city, so we had take a tour van to get there. The ride was very bumpy, and I tried to catch a few z's but to no avail. On the van, we met some people who were visiting from Spain. They were like us; they live overseas, so since they're here visiting, might as well swing by the cemetery to visit their dead relatives.
When we got there, the rain had lightened a bit. The cemetery was huge, and it took us a while to find the gravesite. Once we did, we set out food and flowers on the altar in front of the tombstone. This is one of the rituals I mentioned before. Also, we lit candles and some incense and had to bow toward the tombstone. After that, we burned some paper money, which is to give wealth to the dead. For a while, I stood in silence, listening to the dripping of the rain, wondering when we could leave.
Speaking of leaving, I have to admit, I'm having sort of a lousy time here. Most of the time, I'm bored to death, except when I'm near a computer or asleep. Yesterday, my dad's old friend visited, and then my mom's old friend visited. Tomorrow, I believe we're visiting some more of their friends. Hopefully something interesting will happen in the 13 days left. Until then, I will keep counting down the days until I get back. It's the only worthwhile thing I can do.
Some other miscellaneous countdowns:
29 days until The Dark Knight - July 18
51 days until the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing - August 8
138 days until the 2008 Presidential Election - November 4