Wedding day

So just another day at the office. When I arrived in the parking lot at 7:30, there was a large back drop set up in the parking lot with red carpet everywhere. This usually either means visit from a government dignitary or its wedding day at JCI Changchun. Turns out it was the latter. Today was to be the special day a bride and groom to start their lives together. Well, actually 31 brides and 31 grooms. Getting married at work on a Friday morning. You have to love the Chinese view of efficiency. If we have one marriage per week, it will take ¾ of a year to get through all these ceremonies. Or. . . we can pump out 31 couples from 9-11 and bam we can all get back to work. Now I don’t know the details of who gets married at work, but I imagine its folks who do not want to spend the time and money planning a big formal to-do. (Could also read: most men in America). The company arranges the ceremony and the pictures and the couple only need to buy a white dress and a suit. Then the company pays for a honeymoon down in Hainan Island (super swanky vacation destination). Pretty good deal and all. You just have to give up any illusions of this being ‘your day’. So the first item to highlight you can see in one of the pictures. If you have to organize 31 couples getting married, you don’t have time to write down people’s names. You just have numbers. (Think prison in the US) And so no one gets confused, you have to wear your number on your dress/suit at all times. Prominently displayed on your left hip. In case you forgot, you are not special. You’re just getting married. You’re number 26. The ceremony had some pretty cool dancing from the 2 man dragon dancers. Of course the event had to kick off with the company song. I guess if JCI is paying for 31 weddings, we get to drill you with our company song a couple times at about 100 dB. Then there were the speeches and the vows where each person raised their right hand in a fist and commit something to their spouse. It was hard for me not to find it interesting that the Chinese stole the Black Panther hand gesture for ‘black power’ and incorporated into their wedding ceremonies. Who knew. Then, the always popular, you may now hug your wife. This will always make me giggle. For the big climax, (I know hard to imagine how you bring this to a climax), the staffers had to quick run and bring each bride a dove. It takes a little while for 31 doves to be brought out and you could tell some brides were a little less confident in handling a wriggling bird in their hands while bedecked in their wedding gown. In the end it all worked out as the birds were released simultaneously, the balloons were released, and then the backup cage of doves was also released so a few hundred birds could fly around for a while before taking off. I couldn’t help but hear my tutor’s words ringing in my ears: “You know it’s kind of funny that in the west the dove is seen as a symbol of peace. In china it just looks like a good meal”. And so it ended. Wedding bliss for all 62 newlyweds and some of their families and friends. I’m pretty sure they were all back to work after lunch.