GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!!!
It's the year of the pig, boar, inoshishi, whatever you want to call it...
In fact, 2007 (or 4075) is an especially lucky "golden pig" year which only comes around every 60 years! (And bringing with it, a huge baby boom
in China...)
I talked to my parents, grandmother and 2 of my aunts today and I got realllllly homesick for the first time since I've been in Japan... It's weird because Japan surprisingly is one of the few Asian countries that doesn't celebrate the Lunar New Year (but they observe the year of the boar/pig).
So I'm trying to be happy and upbeat and stuff, but it's hard when no one around me has any idea about it... Normally, I'm surrounded by friends and family who celebrate the holiday- whether I am in New York or California, and even when I lived in Florence, a few of us foreigners went to the local Chinese restauarant and celebrated. This year it has been overshadowed by the frenzy of Valentine's Day (now the shelves are stocked with chocolates for "White Day", the reciprocal to Valentine's Day where the guys have to return chocolates to the women.)
I miss the festivities, the firecrackers, the lion dances, the drums, and all the food!!! My dad made his famous "jeen doy" (fried sesame seed balls), grandma made "nian gao" (sticky cake), and of course, the families all get together and exchange red envelopes ("lay see" or "hung bao") for the kids (ha ha, I'm still considered a "kid"!)
Happy new year to all my friends and family around the world!!!
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