Madison Minutes: September 2013

September 2013

It's that time again...

Send us your Back-to-School picture and we'll feature your happy student in the October Madison Minutes !

Email pictures to [email protected]

Moon (Mid-Autumn) Festival

September 19 - 21

The Moon Festival, Mooncake Festival, or the August Moon Festival - they are the different names of the same festival - is also known as the Mid Autumn Festival. It is a celebration of abundance and togetherness. The Chinese pray for protection, family unity, and good fortune. It falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, a date that parallels the Autumn Equinox of the solar calendar. On this day the moon is unusually bright, clear and round.

Moon Festival

It is related to two customs in China.

The first customs concern the Chinese farmers. China is an agricultural country and farming in China is intricately associated with the seasons. In ancient times, farmers prayed for a good harvest when they sowed the seeds during spring. Again during autumn, the farmers offered their gratitude for a good harvest. This was known as the autumn reward. Some people believed that the Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the autumn reward ritual.

The second custom is related to the moon. The Mid-Autumn Festival occurs at the autumn equinox when the sun shines vertically on the equator, equally dividing the day and the night in the northern and the southern hemisphere. At this time, the sunlight shines vertically on the equator, equally dividing the day and night in both the southern and northern hemispheres. In the evening the moon appears with gentle winds and the sky is clear, apart from the light clouds. This is the perfect time to watch the moon.

Joyce

Aging Out Child in China

DOB: August 18, 2000

Joyce is now 13 years old and needs to be adopted before her 14th birthday... she has less than one year to find her family and for them to be in China to bring her home! She has the cutest dimples when she smiles!! Joyce is a darling girl with repaired cleft lip and palate and mild scoliosis. Shriner's Hospitals would provide free medical treatment for her scoliosis, if needed.

Joyce is outgoing and active. She is motivated in her school studies, participates in a variety of activities, likes playing with other children, and asks teachers for help when she has trouble.

Joyce understands what it means to be adopted and to be part of a family. She looks forward to having her own family soon.

Please help spread the word about Joyce!

If you would like more information about adopting Joyce

and providing her with a loving home and hope for the future,

please contact Sara Lang at Madison Adoption Associates.

Gazillion Voices

The Mission of Gazillion Voices is to create a place for adoptees to discuss topics important to the adoption community, and hopefully reshape the conversation about adoption.

Korean adoptee Kevin Vollmers started Land of Gazillion Adoptees (LGA), a grassroots level blog that quickly expanded into other areas. Kevin took a look at how much the blog was flourishing. More importantly, he took a close look at the impact of the topics and issues important to the adoption community had on the mainstream, but at the same time how misunderstood adoption was by the general public. So, with the encouragement of adoptees, adoptive parents, first/birth parents, friends, and family, Kevin assembled a talented team to launch a subscription-based, monthly online magazine to bring the voices of critically thinking members of the adoption network, especially adoptees, into the broader community. Welcome to Gazillion Voices!

Subscribe at gazillionvoices.com