Amiram Hayardeny's My China Experience

Passover Impressions

About four millennia ago, so the story goes, the Jewish people lead by Moses left Egypt. Unfortunately, they left in a big rush, and therefore didn't have time to bake real bread for the long way to the promised land (40 years in the dessert). They only had time to make this tough, crispy, hard on the stomach cracker called “Matzoh”. Ever since, there are a few things we have to do every spring: we have to clean the house of leavened bread (usually called spring cleaning in other cultures), we have to eat Matzoh for seven (or eight) days, and we absolutely have to have a big family fight over who is going to host the big festive dinner on the eve of the Holiday. The “Seider”.

I have to admit that it's been quite a few years, in fact since the divorce from my first wife, that I haven't been seriously keeping the first two parts. Our maid takes care of the spring cleaning all year round, and in all honesty the Matzoh has some serious disagreement with my stomach, so we agree to disagree, and we simply don't see each other often anymore...

The only Holiday related activity left for me is the big family fight before it. In previous years, it usually happened as follows. We would try not to think about it for the longest time, but right around a month before, when everyone knows that plans must be made, the question gets thrown to the air: “where are we going to make the next Seider?”. There is no mistake: the Seider is the festive meal on the first evening of Passover. Everyone turns quiet, people suddenly look for their cell phones under the table. And then starts the usual: “if aunt Minnie is coming – I'm out”. “I am not having Harpo and Bella this year, they never invite us”. “Lets just go to a hotel and save the big headache”. (names are fictitious to protect the real identities of the people involved).

Needless to say, we usually have a very nice family get together, in which we have lots of laughs, in which Grandpa gets drunk – just a little, in which the kids trash the house. But we love it. We love getting together with the family, it's always fun. Obviously, once the first couple leaves, they become the topic of the conversation, and the fun continues...

This year, being in Beijing, we really had very little choices. My sister and her two sons came to spend the Holiday with us. We had a quiet festive dinner, it was fun.

On to a related, though not directly, topic. Living in China, I am much of aware of my size than ever. Face it, I weigh roughly twice the average Chinese person, I most certainly stand out in a crowd throughout Asia. I can't buy clothes here (XXL is comparable to American Medium...). That's why I love the airport in Beijing: I get to see people my size and bigger. I am sitting in an airplane on my way to Sun Tech Days in St. Petersburg, Russia. The plane is full of Russian, and how should I put it – I don't stand out that much.

I always wonder what the secret is to keeping the weight under control. It is my theory that the 20^th century was probably the first one in human history in which too much food was available for consumption. The human body does not exactly know what to do with overfeeding, and hence the weight gain. It is very unfortunate that in this day and age there are still billions of people who do not have sufficient nourishment, while others, yours truly included, are looking for ways to eat less all the time. Unsuccessfully...

I am looking forward to St. Petersburg. For a few reasons. I have never been there, it is supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and in the world. Apparently, the Hermitage Museum, housed in this city is the largest and richest museum in the world. Louvre included. I am eager to meet some Russian Solaris developers. I have attended Sun Tech Days in Beijing, China, and in Seoul Korea. One of the days is dedicated to OpenSolaris. Jeff Jackson, Sun Senior Vice President, will be delivering the keynote address. There will be workshops, lectures, booths. It is guaranteed to be a great event. I will write daily reports from the conference.

When I get back, on April 18, the Intel Developers Forum will take place in Beijing. Sun Microsystems will sponsor the event. I will attend, and so will many people from Sun China. Our site VP, Sin-Yaw Wang will speak, and we will have quite a significant Sun representation in the event. Looking forward, not only for the event, but for a productive and fruitful relationship with Intel.

Posted at 09:21AM Apr 11, 2007 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[0]