Chinese New Year (2)

I was rereading the last couple of posts and I realized that I had given short shrift to the biggest holiday of the year. Chinese New Year is a combination of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, your birthday and Spring Festival. It is a REALLY big deal -- hence the long vacation. Even the Post Office is closed for a week!

Like most holidays everywhere, a lot centers around food -- traditional foods served at the big dinner, and any kind of food colored orange because it is reminiscent of gold. This year is the Year of the Pig, one of the more propitious years in the lunar calendar. Everyone begins with the thought that this year will be better than last -- just like we do!

Children are the big beneficiaries of the celebrations. They receive "hung bao" red envelopes with cash inside. The amount, of course depends on family circumstances and the strength of the relationship between giver and receiver. It has to be a round number, however, 200 NT, not 300. I also stuck in some of the ubiquitous gold wrapped chocolate coin candies. I only gave small amounts since my adopted grandchildren are babies after all. My students will receive pretty much all of the money they will get this year -- hopefully enough to pay for their class trip next year.

The other interesting part of the New Year's celebration (besides the fireworks) is that everyone cleans everything and gets new whatevers at this time. Now a days that means your car in addition to your house so the lines at the car washes are amazing. Everyone gets new clothes, haircuts etc. and if your were planning on buying a new couch -- this is the time. It is also considered good luck to start things during this season -- jobs, new businesses, new babies (either born or conceived) -- all of which adds to the fireworks.