Happy Year of the Rat

Chinese New Year officially began on Febuary 7th. It doesn't end until the 21st, and we celebrated over the course of a week or so. Katelyn was off of school because of a snow day, so she was able to stay home for New Years Day with me and Emma. We celebrated by putting on their Chinese outfits and watching the premier of Ni Hao Kai-lan on Nick Jr. We have been waiting for that show for a LONG time! It was cool that they premiered it on the first day of the Chinese New Year.

A couple of months ago, I purchased tickets for us to go to the Chinese New Year Gala, put on by the Chinese Association of West Michigan. The gala has been extremely popular in recent years, and last year the tickets sold out before I could purchase some. This year, I was on the ball when the tickets came out. It was such a great night. As we walked in, an older gentleman gave the girls angpao or red envelopes with a silver dollar in it. It is traditional for any child or unmarried person to receive angpao for the new year, usually after they have paid respect to the older people by bowing. We got there plenty early and were able to secure great seats.

The girls both enjoyed the show, although it was a little on the long side for Emma. She got antsy after about an hour. They started out with a lion dance and Emma squealed very loudly at the end of the dance. She got a lot of looks and smiles! Then there were little skits in between the different features about 2 girls whose fathers sent them to China so that they can learn more about their culture. It was interesting to me that adoptive parents aren't the only ones struggling to preserve the culture for their children. When we went to leave, it had started snowing like crazy and the roads were bad. We took it slow and easy and eventually made it home.

Then Monday, we had our friends the Vanderwests over to have a little celebration at our home. The kids received angpao as they came in and we had them bow to Josh. We got those cool gold Liberty coins for their red envelopes. Josh and I had made up dumplings, but we had a few left for the kids to wrap up their own dumplings. We then enjoyed a feast of Chinese food from the Mandarin Wok in Sparta--they are just the best! And their crab cheese rangoons. . . there are no words for those! Our dumplings turned out fantastic, if I do say so. They were so yummy, that Josh and I polished off a big plate of them before everyone even arrived! I had coloring pages from Ni Hao Kai-lan that I printed off, and then we sent them down to watch a couple of episodes that I had taped. Then all the adults had to help with our dragon craft. You can check out the photo album for the pics! We had some yummy strawberry shortcake for desert. I had bought sparkler candles to represent the firecrackers, but they weren't very sparkly. I was a little disappointed, but I don't think the kiddos cared.

I think it is going to become a favorite family holiday for us! Some other facts that we learned about Chinese New Year are:

You clean your house before the New Year to sweep out all the bad luck.
You don't clean at all during the holiday to keep from sweeping out the good luck.
You turn on all of your lights in your house to keep out the evil spirits on New Years Eve.
You open all the windows and doors to bring in the good luck with the New Year.
You should pay all of your debts before the new year.
You should wear new clothing, usually something with the color red.
You get a haircut before the new year.
The rat is the first animal in the Chinese zodiac, so this is a year for new beginnings.
For many people in China, this is their only time to see their families as they work in the cities or elsewhere.
The dumplings or jiaozi are usually eaten at midnight on New Year's Eve with the entire family. Everyone helps to prepare them.
Longevity noodles are uncut noodles that you eat to have a long life.
You hang banners with the symbols for good luck on your door posts.