Forgetful

It's strange how one event can make you forget so many others. With the recent snow storm gone and the cleanup well underway, I was reminded of so many things that I would have normally looked forward to normally, but had completely forgotten about.
First would be the 2010 Winter Olympics. I love the Olympics, the camaraderie, the competition, the sports and how it shows that people from across the world can still get together and share in something big. Granted, the Winter Olympics usually take the back seat to the summer Olympics which usually garners much more attention because many more countries participate, but nevertheless, it still only happens every four years. I just finished watching the opening ceremony and while I really tried not to make comparisons to the Beijing Summer Olympics, but it really is hard not to. It was still beautiful and I really enjoyed how the opening ceremony represented Canada and all it's different regions, but it really lacked the visual drama and shock and awe factor the 2008 Olympics had. The opening ceremony was heavy however with mourning over the death of Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died in an accident during a practice run. My prayers are out to his family, friends and fellow team mates. While the Beijing Olympics were astonishing, the Vancouver Olympics will be remembered as more touching and personal. Also, I really feel bad at the torch lighting that one of the legs of the torch failed to deploy, as one of my friends put it, "the torch had erectile dysfunction"

The other major event that I almost forgot about until just recently is that Chinese New Year is this Sunday! Lunar New Year is celebrated primarily in East Asia and usually involves traditionally 15 days of fun, family, food and festivities. -I just realized that all began with the letter "f" lol- I actually completely forgot about it until two days ago when two of my aunts gave me some red envelopes. Giving out red envelopes is a tradition that is usually done between the older generations and children but is certainly not limited to this. The envelopes are filled with money and are just simple gifts. Some families go all out and decorate the house with lanterns and streamers but for most families, it involves extended family getting together to enjoy in a meal. In China, it's a national holiday and it's taken pretty seriously.

Special foods are also prepared during this time including special sweet rice cakes called nian gao and also rice-ball soup where the rice balls represent the full moon. Noodles, representing a long life, are almost mandatory. This year, the plan in my family was to get together and have a hot pot dinner, but because the sidewalks are still so messy, some of the older family members could possibly get hurt so we decided to celebrate at a later date.

Nevertheless, everyone should celebrate Lunar New Year in their own way; spend some quality time with family, have Chinese food for dinner, promise to start off the next week anew. Just forget all your worries for one day, enjoy the moment and have some fun. For me, this will represent a fresh start, and maybe it will for you too.

新年快樂 and 恭喜發財 everyone!

(Happy New Year and Health and Prosperity to You!)

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Learn Chinese!

Happy New Year: "Shing Nee-Ann Kwai Le"
Health and Prosperity: "Gong Shing Fatz-Eye"

All the best,

JP