KUNG HEI FAT CHOI

Ok, so this is a Chinese New Year special. I thought I would enlighten those of you who still don't know that we're going from the year of the pig to the year of the rat, basically I'm leaving my year to wander into the uncertainties of living in someone else's year. Exciting, right?

In the year of the pig, not just me, but many babies were born. Pigs are considered very good years for babies to be born and 2007 was particularly so because it was the year of the Gold Pig. That means that Chinese and Korean families literally go crazy trying to have their offspring within this time period so that later the kids will be rich... yes, it's that simple. They really believe it too!

So, all around China and Hong Kong maternity wards collapased, obstetricians were getting richer by the minute... and my Mom was asked many times if she especially tried to have a pig, but of course my mother wouldn't have minded having another animal, like a dog like my cousin Aidan and cousin Liam in Paris.

Chinese New Year also means that my parents get to be on holidays and love to drag me along around the city while they bump into friends and blah, blah, blah, ignoring my nap times and taking constant pictures when I'm not even in the mood.

Something else about Chinese New Year is that it's cold, there are fireworks, parades, and children get little red packets (like envelopes) full of money from relatives and friends. I've gotten two so far from the caretakers of the building where I live! One of them, Mr. Wong, well he's seen it all. Since my parents have been living in the same building for almost five years, Mr. Wong has seen mama and papa go from unfettered party couple to the institution of marriage to finally... me! So he's been one of the most intimate witnesses to our family story.

As for the fireworks, the techno level is once again extremely high as the colorful explosions will attempt to spell the Chinese charactes Bei-Jing (Beijing) in honor of the genocide olympics... oops!! What the... better remove that word and avoid any trouble. Don't want to get scolded like my dad did in Beijing when he made up this funny little song called 'Beijing, Dirty City'... they didn't think it was very funny.