Happy New Year!

So this past Sunday was Chinese New Year. I know what you're thinking...Nicky Long, you're not Chinese. Well, technically, the actual holiday is the Lunar New Year. It celebrates the new year according to cycles of the moon. While this holiday has developed a reputation and title in the United States as Chinese new year because Chinese people celebrate it and they are the most dominant asian population....it is also celebrated by Vietnam (and probably a few other countries that I don't even know about). So yes, this past weekend, I celebrated.

Of all the asian holidays, the Lunar New Year is by far my favorite. In Vietnamese culture, we wake up that day and everything we do that day, we try to make festive and "good" because the way that your day turns out is supposed to be a reflection of how your year will turn out. For instance my parents will do everything possible the days leading up to the New Year in order to make sure no one in our family is sick, nothing is broken in the house, etc. Yeah, my parents are real superstitious. So many families will eat big, delicious meals...drink plenty of good alcohol....pray/visit temple for spiritual balance....and have big festive get togethers in order to encourage happiness for the year to come. My new year's get togethers with my family entail 4 main things that make it my favorite holiday (at least in the asian culture anyway):

1) Good eats. There are certain things that we only eat during the New Year's celebration. Aside from those, you can always expect a big luscious meal as well. In conjunction with item number 2) you get a very full and content day.
2) Good drinks. Nice bubbly champagne and wine flow all night. Break out the Dom P and Cristal!
3) Money. It is a tradition in the Lunar New Year celebration that the elders, your aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents, etc. will give red envelopes containing cash. Depending on the financial status of your relatives as well as the overall size of your family, this can be a very handsome collection by the end of the night. This tradition encourages wealth because by receiving money it is believed you will be prosperous in the coming year.
4) Gambling highly encouraged. I'm not sure how things work with Chinese families, but within Vietnamese families, gambling is encouraged during the Lunar New Year. I suspect it has something to do with giving and receiving money as well as joy with your loved ones. I take it as an excuse to gamble gamble gamble. There's a popular game that is played during the New Year. Essentially, there are 6 pictures of animals on a mat. You place bets on which animal you think will pop up. Then 3 dice are rolled that each contain the 6 animals on them. You get paid depending on what pops up. I like to call this game Vietnamese craps. My cousins and I can spend all night playing this game. Now that we're older, we also incorporate poker and other betting games as well.

This year was a bit slower for me. With my sister and 2 of my cousins away at college, as well as the inclement weather, our celebration was much smaller and shorter than it normally is. Nonetheless, I had a good time. Big Happy BDAY shout out goes to all my friends who celebrated their bdays this weekend as well.

Chuc mung nam moi (Happy New Year in Vietnamese)!