Thursday, February 07, 2008

Happy Chinese New Year!



This is one of my favorite holidays when I was a kid. Relatives and family friends would hand out these pretty red envelopes after you have wished them:

Kung Hay Fat Choy!

Xin nian kuai le!

It's a fun and boisterous celebration filled with lots of candy, food, and family. Once my brother and I have opened all our red envelopes, my mom would take us to the bank to deposit. But I always kept a little to buy something fun. Like a new Hello Kitty erasure that rings when you shake it.

Now that I'm married, the tables have turned. I now give out red envelopes to unmarried children and adults. I'm a little sad that I will no longer get them b/c they always remind me of my childhood. And who would be sad w/ money? At the same time I'm super excited that I get to give out cute envelopes by well wishers. This is my second year of handing them out and so far all my younger cousins have visited or called me. Makes me so happy to have a large family.

I wish you all a prosperous and wonderful new year.

6 comments:

wan said...

it sucks to be a grown-up sometimes.

happy new year!

dapotato said...

i am so sad i do not get $ anymore, either. :(

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R said...

Sounds like a fun celebration. Who doesn't like getting money, huh? Very cool of you to keep the tradition going. :)

KP said...

This was our first year as a married couple and we blew it big time! My mom said we were supposed to bring offerings for the ancestors' altar on New Year's Eve/Day, and we didn't have our red envelopes ready, only for the littlest ones, and we were bombarded. Oh well, we'll be better next year. Happy New Year!

amber said...

happy new year!

such a cool tradition. especially cool that you're keeping it going :)