Gung Hay Fat Choy!

I'll tell you one thing I'm not doing in honor of Chinese New Year, and that's create a video entirely in Mandarin, or possibly Cantonese, showing photos of how I was steeped in Chinese culture and dance from a very young age and even singing It's a Small World in Mandarin.  Or possibly Cantonese.  Or Taiwanese?  I'll leave to that to Julia Ling (Anna Wu on Chuck): "ABC" take on Chinese New Year Traditions" on YouTube.

Needless to say, my ABC (American Born Chinese) upbringing was much more on the American side than the Chinese side, particularly compared to Julia Ling.  But we always had 1) long noodles for longevity, and usually they were the traditional cellophane noodles.  And we ate them with a slurp, all the way to the end so as not to break off our lifespan.  Except there was the one year when whatever packet of cellophane noodles we got must have been the kind you get in spring rolls; I have never seen shorter noodles except for perhaps Spaghetti-o's.  But my family survived that year, so I'll take it with a grain of salt, much like 2) chicken for prosperity.  When my parents got married, my YenYen, my dad's mom, told my mom that it's always best if you raise the chicken from an egg and nurture and care for it, then kill and pluck and prepare and eat it for New Year's.  "But," she continued, "in a pinch, a bucket of KFC will do."  I come from a very pragmatic family.  As far as 3) oranges for fertility, well, Earl and I celebrated our 12th anniversary last week and we had our annual (as-yet, still two-syllable) discussion.  And, inedible but what a great tradition for the kids, 4) red paper envelopes of lucky money.  (Thanks, mom!  Got your card the other day!)

So have a very happy Chinese New Year and may you be long-lived, prosperous, and have a bountiful harvest in the Year of the Snake.  Gung Hay Fat Choy!

P.S. According to Wiki, Julia Ling is exactly six days older than Murg. I wonder if she's single?