Celebrate The Year of the Ox!

What do Barack Obama, Heather Locklear, Princess Diana, George Clooney, and Jack Nicholson all have in common?  According to the Chinese Zodiak, they are all OX!   If you were born the year of an ox, you are stable and persevering.  You are a tolerant person with strong character.  Ox people work hard without complaints at home or at work.  They know they will succeed through hard work and sustained efforts, and do not believe in get-rich quick schemes. If these descriptions sound like you, but you are not sure what zodiak animal you really are, you should check it out quickly as this week starts the celebrations---and it is something you don't want to miss!! 

Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday the Chinese celebrate.  It is a party to say the least! This year is our third year  living in China, and having the opportunity to experience a "true Chinese New Year."  This is what we have learned so far:  

For one entire week, the sky (day and night) is filled with fireworks which is just a start to their celebrations.  One night of the week, there are so many fireworks, the noises keep you up all night since it is impossible to sleep! During Chinese New Year celebrations, people give red envelopes "hong bao's" filled with money as gifts to other's, (often to children, but we give to our Chinese helpers).  The traditional Chinese dumpling is a MUST eat during the holiday, and red lanterns are hung throughout the city.  There are so many superstitions for this holiday, it is impossible to begin.  With all the traditions, it is easy to feel the excitement around, and fun to celebrate this holiday with the Chinese.

Before the official holiday began, we were fortunate to have our own Chinese New Year celebration with some workers from John's office at Deloitte.  John always tell us how much he enjoys working with his Chinese co-workers, and it was very understandable after having them over and get to know them better.  They are the sweetest group, and their English skills are amazing!!  He is so lucky to have such a fabulous staff to work with, and we had a wonderful evening with them. 

Ping Pong, Pool, and Fuseball Tournaments are probably not common during Chinese celebrations, but there were a few pretty fierce competitors!

And obviously since we were doing the cooking, it wasn't even close to typical Chinese cuisine, but still delicious (Thanks to Anna who spent the entire day preparing for the party!)

A big thanks to all of John's coworkers for all the gifts they brought for our family.  One of our favorites was this box of chocolates filed with chocolate OX----have you ever seen anything so cute?  We haven't!  In fact, we have enjoyed looking at the chocolates so much we don't even want to eat them!

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone---May the Year of the OX be the best ever!