Wishing you a happy Blah Blah Day

Had you ever heard of Tomb Sweeping Day before coming to China? I was totally ignorant about the Qingming Festival, but when I discovered it came with today's public holiday, I gleefully marked it on my calendar.

Bring it on.

Expats in China are an assorted bag of nuts who celebrate their own special days and in very special ways.

This month I plan to celebrate each and everyone.

In April, some Americans are celebrating National Jelly Bean Day, National Chocolate-covered Cashews Day, Hairstylist Appreciation Day, Take A Wild Guess Day and National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day.

Bring them all on.

Fans of the 1960s group The Kingsmen have declared this coming Saturday "Louie Louie Day" and rightfully so. What a great song.

Also on that day, more traditional songsters will don their straw hats and striped clothes to sing in Barbershop Quartet Day.

Last week I visited my local hospital to wish the staff a happy "Hospital Visiting Clerks Day". I then put away the rodent poison for "World Rat Day" and took a firmer grip on the steering wheel for "Drowsy Driver Awareness Day".

Before coming to China, birthdays, Christmas Day, Mother and Father's Day had been enough for me. Maybe also St Valentine's Day, if I was dating.

All those other "special days" were superfluous.

Not anymore. This month I have marked down Morse-Code Day and Richter-Scale Day and on April 17, there is even Blah! Blah! Blah! Day. Pencil it down now.

Most of us expats from the West know about April Fools Day, which is an old favorite, but on April 1, Americans celebrated nine other special events.

There was the National Fun Day, which should not be confused with National Fun Day At Work. There was the National Day of Hope, Paraprofessional Appreciation Day, Poetry and the Creative Mind Day, Sorry Charlie Day, St Stupid Day, the US Air Force Academy Day and Boomer Bonus Day.

One country, one day and 10 different reasons to party.

If one day is not enough, then you can devote weeks and months to any cause you like.

You probably didn't know that the past week has been International Pooper-Scooper Week. You know about it now.

The first week in April was also Laugh At Work Week, which I urge all expats to follow. Maybe it should be Laugh At Work Year.

From the 13th to the 19th you can look forward to Egg Salad Week, which rolls into National Karaoke Week. Cowboy Poetry Week (a personal favorite of mine) starts on the 20th as does Fish Fry Week and National Paperboard Packing Week and National Window Safety Week.

International Whistling Week begins to blow on the 22nd and I'm really pumped, but after 40 years of practice, I still can't whistle. More than anything I really want to be a good whistler. I really, really, really do.

The month of April has also been claimed as a special period for reflection. We have Car Care Month, Couple Appreciation Month, Financial Literacy Month, Holy Humor Month, Irritable Bowl Syndrome Month and Straw Hat Month.

Marketing and PR people representing special interest groups are to blame for the creation of all these days, weeks and months of special recognition. By declaring a special day/week/month, it is an easy way to get their special interests into the media.

If they can do it, so can I. This day/week/month is devoted to expats in China.

If your bosses question it, tell them you read it in the paper, so it must be true.

(China Daily 04/06/2009 page10)