Happy Chinese New Year!
Happy Lunar Year!
Happy Year of the Water Dragon!
Happy Spring Festival!
Well, whatever you fancy, I hope it is happy! January 23rd marks the first day of the lunar year... the year of the Water Dragon. As I am sure you know, Dragons are a very important symbol of Chinese culture, and this year is supposed to be epic. While many believe 2012 is supposed to bring about the end of the world... Chinese astrologist predict that 2012 will bring about great fortune.
The element Water represent growth and is the only element that people cannot live without. The Dragon is a symbol of power, mystery and unpredictability. The combination of Water and Dragon only happens every 60 years, however is supposed to be the most powerful combination because water is the natural element of a Dragon. Ok, so none of this may mean anything to you, but believe me, it means a whole lot to the Chinese people. Their entire lives are based around the Chinese astrology. Women believe that it is best to have a "Dragon" child, so there will be an increase in births this year, in addition to the entire city being transformed into a Dragon land.
So we have the whole week off. Pretty awesome considering that we just had three weeks off for Christmas and the real New Year, but who am I to complain.... we get to celebrate New Years twice! Sunday (NYE), we went to our friend, Amy Kent's house. She had some people over, and we hung out drinking wine and eating tons of food. Then we blew up some fireworks in the evening in front of her house! Just before midnight, me, Christina, Amy, Michelle, Paul and Linnea jumped in taxis and headed to the French Concession to continue our New Years celebration. We ended up at Camel - I have a love/hate relationship with that bar... it is kind of a sports bar so they always attract a lot of guys :] the problem is that all the guys sit in front of the TVs all night watching the games :[ (even on NY). We met up with some other friends. Near midnight, Paul and I went out to the street and lit off some fireworks that someone at the bar had given us (well it seemed like a good idea at the time, now it just sounds irresponsible). I must admit that I was rather disappointed with the fireworks this year. Last year the fireworks in Nanjing were EPIC! Even the fireworks on the beach in Langkawi for New Years were EPIC, these ones were pretty BLAHH. I was actually kind of shocked because we figured that French Concession would be a good place for us to go to actually find a bar open, and see good fireworks, but the city was pretty much dead. Good thing we had already lit off a bunch of fireworks at Amy's otherwise I would have been sad.
(blowing stuff up at Amy Kent's)
(three fabulous roomies)
(lame fireworks outside Camel with Paul)
(new English friend at the Camel - Ritchie)
So after a bit, we relocated to the Apartment with everyone - great place for dancing - before calling it a night! Pretty sure I went to bed around 9:00 am (I don't even know where the time went) and I spend the entire next day sleeping and recovering - I am far to old to do that!
Anyway, January 23rd not only marks the new Lunar year, but it also marks my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY living in Shanghai :] Can you believe that it has already been a year? Two years ago, I never would have imagined myself in China, nor could I have even imagined that my life would turn out the way that it has. The last year has been one of the most incredible years, and I know how blessed I am to have this opportunity! For me, the time is flying by, but sort of in a good way. I don't feel like I have wasted even a minute of the last year because I have kept myself busy meeting people, traveling Asia and making the best of my time here! I love my life, and I am looking forward to seeing what the next year in Shanghai has to offer :)
Happy First Chinese Birthday to Me :] :] :]
No comments:
Post a Comment