Don't challenge superstition!


When we flew back to China (on Saturday, August 13) we bumped into some friends at Helsinki airport.

-Hey, hows your holiday been?! When did you first get here? (The standard post-holiday conversation, you know).

-Its been great, we got here six weeks ago!

-Youve had a six weeks holiday?! Me and my bf flinched. We thought we had had an extremely long holiday my bf had 3 weeks and I was off for a whole month.

-Yeah, well the last week was work, the guy said.

-Ah, OK.

-Well, we actually wanted to have our holiday a bit earlier and be back by now, but because I had a Chinese delegation coming to Finland I had to be here and take care of them.

-Right.

-We tried to get them to come here already in July but they refused, saying it was impossible. They really wanted to come in August.

-Oh?

-Yeah, and we pushed and pushed and then finally, they revealed why they just HAD to come in August. And not only in August. But on the 8th of August.

-Yes?

-Because they wanted to fly here on the 8th day of the 8th month: they arrived in Finland on August 8 (8/8 = very lucky day for many Chinese people as 8 is a lucky number in China).

-No way?!

-Oh yes! First we thought it was silly, then we remembered the Olympics in Beijing in 2008, and that it opened on August 8, 8.08pm. They take these things seriously in China. So we thought, how can we challenge superstition?

-Good point. So was it a successful visit?

-Sure, went great.

-Well then. Mission accomplished.

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