Quite the Holiday - and I'm not lion!!!

I am a dyed-in-the-wool Catholic. I was raised in the United States, which, no matter what our current administration says, is a Christian Nation. All my life I have harbored the happy little delusion that everyone else is just like me. I was wrong.

It is Chinese New Year in Singapore. This is the time of year when all things are made new. Kids get new clothes. There are sweets and gifts and celebrations. It is the event of the year for the Chinese and they really know how to throw a party. For me, it is the thing that makes me acknowledge that non-Christian cultures are alive and well and the people who practice them are as committed as anyone...

All personal effects must be either washed or replaced. A friend of mine went to the dry cleaner in January and was told her stuff would take at least 2 weeks. "Chinese New Year," the owner told her unapologetically. Apparently he felt 14 days was a reasonable seasonal turnaround. Homes must be completely cleaned. This is partly for the New Year - family, friends and in-laws will surely be over at some point - and partly because luck can apparently be swept out of the house, wiped off the counter and dumped down the drain, so nothing can be cleaned throughout the 15-day holiday. The loss of luck in a drain or dustpan can haunt a family for a year. A terrible thing, that. Knives must be put away - if, when cutting say, an apple, a person cuts himself, he can bleed the luck right out of his body, also for a year. Gifts are given in the form of Hung bao - a small red envelope normally filled with cash. Cash must be doled out in even numbers - 8 is best. Not 4, though. 4 is bad - death, to be exact. Oranges are given out willy nilly - in pairs, since one on top of the other makes an 8. But they have to Mandarins, since the word for mandarin in Chinese sounds a lot like the word for luck or prosperity or wealth.

My favorite thing about the holiday is the Lion Dance, though. We had a little block party where these guys showed up. It was noisy and interesting and the kids loved it. So much so that I went out and bought a lion for Matt's classroom. I may get a drum too...