Happy Lunar New Year! I was awakened at midnight last night to the sound of loud firecrackers. Then I remembered it was the Chinese New Year. Saipan has a mix of cultures living on this tiny island. Part of the fun of living here is celebrating the different holidays with the different nationalities. Today will be colorful. The bright red and gold dragon will go to different businesses to perform the dragon dance. The Chinese Association group just came to my office, and made the circle of our company. The giant silk dragons make the rounds, gathering red envelopes containing money from inside of pieces of lettuce that hang from the doorways. The dancers inside of the dragon costumes sway around to the sound of the drums and cymbals being played by the marchers behind them. The marchers are wearing bright red silk outfits. It's a bright and loud celebration parade, that you can't miss!
I went outside of the office to watch the end of the performance, and was greeted by my friend, Rose Chan, from our ballroom dance group. Rose is a great ballroom dancer, and she looked lovely in her red silk Chinese blouse.
2008 is the year of the Rat. I am apparently a Rat year (1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996) person, so I guess this is my year for good things. Fellow Rats, we've been billed as charming, so we best live up to it. : )
So - Happy New Year (Kung Hei Fat Choi) to my Chinese friends.
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