Bliss English Club

My Dear Blissers,

Do you have a hilarious and unforgettable “Lantern Festival” this year?  It is celebrated island wide in various ways!!

“Bliss Meeting” is no Exception!!!

“Learning by Doing”, our motto, was embodied in making “Bliss Sky Lantern” Fly in the sky and down into “Imperceptibility” ~degradeably!!!

Continued reading more details in the recap…..

Recap of “Story about Lantern Festival and Sky Lantern in DIY@ Ping Xi’ on 2/11 by Ellen Huang

Participants: Diana, Kevin, Nania, Jessica Huang, Ellen, Karl, Igor, Angel

Meeting Photo: https://plus.google.com/photos/101726755048448689917/album/6386202427536512833?authkey=CM7LhZu8kODFJg

Ping Xi Meeting

Last Sat, instead of the regular meeting place, our President and hostess, Ellen led us to a lovely coffee shop, surrounded by the mountains, located in Ping Xi.

Theme Talk: “Surplus Food”

Ellen started a warm up discussion of “Surplus Food”. Based on the related statistics, food was wasted around 100 KGs per person per year. To avoid such overwhelming waste, we brainstormedand came out following  solutions.

               1.     Post the information on social media to consume it.  Ex.  剩食終結者(https://www.facebook.com/groups/578834882309285/).

2.     Check your food stock regularly to avoid food’s expiry date.

3.     Use small packages for storage to prevent expiration or excessive cooking.

4.    Buy the food closer to expiry date in the supermarkets (or share or enjoy the surplus food cooked by some restaurantes like https://www.facebook.com/7upkitchen/ )

5.     Start to talk to neighbors in your community and use connections to share it.

History of Lantern Festival

After the warm up discussion, Ellen led us to learn the story of Lantern festival. It started from Han dynasty and one emperor ordered to light lanterns in palace and temples to worship Buddha on the 15^thday of the 1^st lunar month. Later, it was developed into a grand festival among common people. For the invention of sky lanterns, it is attributed to the famous military strategist Zhuge Liang, he used this to summon help when he was surrounded by enemy troops. That’s why we also call the lanterns “Kongming lanterns”.

Hazards of Flying Sky Lanterns

Although flying sky lanterns is fun and popular, several countries started to ban it due to the reasons below:

1.     Fire Hazards-A sky lantern may cause fire when it lands with still burring flames.

2.     Not eco-friendly-Partial materials of Lantern’s are difficult to decompose. Some animals may eat it or be hurt by the frames.

3. Navigation Hazards toward aircrafts.

4. Pollution Hazards to the air.

Balance Between Traditions and Hazards

We discussed some solutions to balance between this beautiful tradition and potential danger. One way we found is to fly the sky lanterns made of bio-degradable materials which are friendly to our earth.

DIY Sky Lanterns

After the discussions, Karl taught us how to make lanterns. We followed his instructions to scaffold the shape with iron wires, glued the papers on which we wrote down our wishes. As soon asProfessional Karl ignited the oiled papers for each lantern, everyone was so awed to see our sky lanterns launching into the sky successfully. Besides, four of us also joined the sky lantern’s launch held by New Taipei city. We were surrounded by tourists from Japan and Korea. All of us were deeply moved and obsessed by the view of hundreds of flying lanterns.

Reflections:

Special thanks to Ellen and Karl’s. With their dedication and preparation, we enjoyed every moment of the meeting and had a precious memory of lantern festival. With the wishes sent by our hand-made lanterns, I believe all of our dreams will come true in 2017. Bliss meetings always bring us full of surprises and warm memories. Don’t miss it next time!