I've been to lantern festivals before, however never one that was exclusively Chinese, well except for me.

And of course, never one with 6,000 Lanterns or anything like this 150 foot Chinese Dragon. But that said, this wasn't the biggest, nor the most spectacular, however it goes with the scheme of my blog just so.

I'm always a little miffed about how we in North America, and particularly Canada/US think so highly of ourselves. My Earlier levels of education never touched, not more than for a moment, on anything concerning eastern (eastern Hemisphere) Cultures. What I learned of China, Russia, Japan, and everywhere else essentially came from reading national geographic and watching TV.

I find it interesting how we consider ourselves truly multi-cultural yet concentrate only on our limited domestic history, with varying forays into Western European History when we feel the need to dive further back into the time line.

But that said, my knowledge of Russia has undergone a pretty serious renewal as of late.
I'm diving into The art of War again, and After this past weekend in Ottawa, I'm on the very verge of diving back into French Classes.

I need a second language. Actually, I guess I need a third, though my second, русско is still only in the toddler phases of speech.

I think I'll be taking some serious extra-curricular French classes when I head back east, especially given the current rankings of future homes:

Acceptable to Live:
Calgary, Ottawa, Halifax, San Diego, Houston, St. John's

Not Acceptable to Live:
Toronto, Cold Lake, northern Alberta (including Edmonton)

Yet To Be Evaluated (visited):
Vancouver, San Francisco, Victoria, Seattle, Raleigh, Aberdeen, Melbourne,