Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
Happy Chinese New Year. The Year of The Rat. Four thousand, seven hundred and six years is a long time to be keeping track of things. I used to watch Jeopardy a lot, and whenever they had a question about who invented something first, it was almost always China. I even heard that the Chinese were the first to discover America, but that the Emperor was a bit of an isolationist and said forget about it. That would have been funny, if Columbus had gotten here looking for India, only to find China instead. I have also heard that those original people who wandered across the land bridge and filled up two continents with this kids were Chinese. But really, all I know about the Chinese is that they built the railroads, opened laundries, and made some pretty good noodles.
The Flower Drum Song was a great movie about Chinatown in San Fransisco. It is filled with silly stereotypes and wonderful songs about like Chop Suey-which talks about the fact that most Chinese food in America is not really Chinese. But hey, I love an all-you-can-eat Chinese Buffet with two hundred items to choose from. Which bring me to the Chinese New Year-and The Year of The Rat.
Most of the Chinese restaurants where I eat have these cute little place mats with the Chinese Zodiac listed around the boarder. It lists years to tell you what sign you are, I’m a Tiger and the Wife is a Horse-it also tells which signs are good matches. The Wife and I are a good match. I have always been a bit jealous of my brother though, he is a Dragon. Dragon has to be the best sign, don’t you think?
