Finally

It is over. Just this last Sunday night, China ushered in the new year. A little behind, right? Actually, the new year holiday the Chinese people just celebrated is based on the lunar calendar. Where as our new year in the states is always on January 1, the lunar new year can range from sometime in January like this year and sometime at the end of February. It always is a source of great consternation for me. In planning my vacations ahead of time like most people do, I frequently inquire about such dates as the Chinese new year. No one ever knows until a few weeks before. Of course, I suppose I could utilize this great thing called the internet to do things besides Geo-challenge like look up the exact dates for the Chinese new year. Maybe next year.

Anyway, as part of the new year festivities, Chu Si (the fourth day of the Chinese new year) is as my boss calls it, Wealth God Eve. The simple explanation is that if you make lots of noise on this particular day (my last night, Thursday the 29th), the god of wealth will hear you and come bless your household. I didn't do a lick of noise making, but my neighbors sure did. If racket (in the form of firecrackers from 10 pm to 12:30 am and then restarting around 4 am) is any indication of the level of wealth that will fill a person's house over the next year, you will all want to be very nice to me because I am going to be rollin' in it! Money money money money...MONEY!

And now I am going to sleep for I am sleep deprived.

Egg Nog

This blog is in honor of my mom who makes many holiday things possible for me. I love to drink egg nog each year at Christmas. Since I live in China, good milk products are hard to come by, plus the great malamime milk scandal of 2008 just made the problem worse. but because of my mom, I had egg nog! It was quite simple actually. Find carton of milk from a company that has proven itself as reputable through the malamime scandal and add to it a few tablespoons of egg nog powder. Viola! Instant egg nog. Now, we all know that instant products are never as good as the real thing, but I must say that it was incredibly good. From the smell to the taste to the texture, I felt like I was drinking real egg nog. This and a mango paste filled pastry makes for an amazing bed time snack! Thanks mom for making my day!