Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! It's the year of the Ox. And I'm crossing everything possible that it's a lucky one for me because the year of the Rat was not...to say the least.

Here's a little background for all you non-Asians : P
According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started with the fight against a mythical beast called the Nian or "Year" in Chinese. Nian would come on the first day of New Year to devour livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nian ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people. One time, people saw that the Nian was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the color red. Hence, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, the Nian never came to the village again. The Nian was eventually captured by Hongjunlaozu, an ancient Taoist monk. The Nian became Hongjunlaozu's mount.

My parents alternate spending 4-5 months on the other side of the world. So my lucky Poppy Seed is celebrating Chinese New Year in Vietnam as we speak. So not fair. He called to rub it in how pretty and crazy everything is over on the other side of the world. It's ok. I will be spending 6 months over there in the very near future. So I, too, will get to experience the wonderful festival the right way.

So my Mumsie celebrates this festival rather elaborately, even though it's just in the States. It's quite interesting watching her frantically prance around the house getting things ready for the start of the new year. She's cooked practically every Asian dish you can think of, cleaned every surface of the house, and lighted every kind of incense possible. The house looks and feel very...Asian! There's a list of things that I can & cannot do, and places I can & cannot go tomorrow. I won't get into it. It's gets rather...silly.

Even though I'm not Buddhist, I've always held this tradition near and dear to my heart. The sight of color lanterns, the beautiful flowers, the comforting smell of all the traditional food, the cute little red envelopes, women and girls dressed in Áo dài , the silly gambling games, is something I look forward to each year.

So with all that being said; Chúc mừng năm mới!!
Sống lâu trăm tuổi...Live up to 100 years
An khang thịnh vượng...Security, good health, and prosperity
Vạn sự như ý...May a myriad things go according to your will
Sức khoẻ dồi dào...Plenty of health
Cung hỉ phát tài...Congratulations and be prosperous
Tiền vô như nước...May money flow in like water