I've never celebrated Chinese New Year, nor do I know much about its custom.
According to my friends, a big part of the Chinese New Year is not only spending it with family and friends, but spending it eating. Hopefully I'll either have time to make or pick up the following items:
1. Fish - a white fish probably (SURPLUS)
2. Noodles - most likely chow mein (LONGEVITY)
3. Dumplings - I'll probably make wonton soup and fried cream cheese/crab wontons (LUCK)
4. Buddha's Delight - if I can find this dish... I won't attempt to make it myself
The Chinese do a thorough cleansing of the home. (Hopefully my roomies and I will have it all crisp and tidy for everyone.) They also decorate with a lot of RED items, like lanterns, fireworks, etc. Coins, flowers, and mandarin oranges are another familiar item seen on the new year.
We'll exchange Chinese folk tales, especially the one about the zodiac race. This is the year of the rat, and if you don't know the story, the rat came in first place. So all born in '72 and '84: this is your year!
I really don't know how authentic it will be, but it's my interpretation, so if you've never celebrated before, maybe now's the time to see what it's like. It'll be another experimental night! In any case, we will be culturally educated and (hopefully) enlightened.
In another sense, this is a great complement to the Ni Hao Kai-lan Premiere Party. Yes, my show is finally going to air on this date. It's been a long time coming, so this is another great way to celebrate a couple years' worth of hard work.. blood and sweat has been soaked into that show. My colleagues and I all need a nice pat on the back instead of the familiar whip lashing against our already-broken backs.... But I diverge... this is a happy time of year! :D
If you want to contribute to the festivities and bring a dish or decorations, please let me know. For some info on the holiday:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year. With the Chinese being highly superstitious, I encourage you to read the good luck/bad luck section of the article. It's always good to be prepared.
Again, let me know who's coming and what you're bringing. I'll need a number count because I already have a few RSVPs even before I post this. Thank you!
恭喜發財 and Gōngxǐ fācái, hóngbāo nálái!
5 comments:
I'm soooo there!
OK, so i checked out your blog. I couldn't find that button they were sayin that i can click on to subscribe to it. I giess i jus gotta remind myself to check it once a week. It's the least i can do. Good party yesterday. Fun stuff. Good crowd.
hey gabriel - if you're using firefox, and you click on the bookmarks section of the top toolbar, you should see "subscribe to this page" as the option right below "bookmark this page."
Thanks Deane. I thought your name was spelled differently. Are you the girl that was in on the whole 'Bob's World' thing? Or are you someone else?
HEy Rochelle!, here's an idea for an event:
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/gruschd.asp
it's for the grunion run at Cabrillo Beach :) could be fun. Alex and I are going, not sure which day yet.
See ya!
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