Ringing in the New Year...Again...??

February 7th will be the start of the Chinese New Year(a.k.a. Lunar New Year). I am still learning about it so unfortunately I do not have a lot of info yet but hope to in the following weeks.

I am already getting excited for it! Not only will it be very exciting and I will learn a lot but I get 5 days off to enjoy it all!!! Boyfriend and I will be planning one or two day trips during the weekend to go one or two days next week!

Unfortunately, I might not get to spend most evenings with Boyfriend as Chinese New Year is almost strictly a family holiday (plus, I am not sure his parents have warmed up to me yet...a VERY liberal American girl who speaks VERY little Chinese, absolutely NO Taiwanese and wears LOW cut shirts...needless to say they are VERY traditional Taiwanese with Chinese ancestry and a bit older than my parents who were hippies in the 70's and what not)
Then again, maybe I will..who knows? I'm fine either way, because Chinese New Year is FILLED with superstitions and I am bound to offend people...if I haven't already!!! That makes me nervous...

Anyway, not only am I craving Cherry Blossoms but I REALLY hope I can see Lion Dances!!!

Well, I need to get ready to go to the school...I am actually NOT tired of my job(I STILL love it) or my colleagues and ironically I am still happy with my students...BUT...I NEED a break!! I'm tired, drained and just want a vacation!

So I am going to leave you with a Youtube Lion Dance video, maybe some other videos if I can find them and resources on Chinese/Lunar New Year...

OH! If you are in Amsterdam/Holland then I highly suggest you visit Chinatown in Amsterdam next weekend!! The Buddhist temple on Zeedijk will surely have something as they did last year (unfortunately I didn't make it) and their headquarters are in Kaohsiung (Taiwan)!!! Definitely go if you have the chance!

http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/culture/lunar-NY/

http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/15-day_celebration.html

http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/chinese_new_year.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year

http://www.chinapage.com/newyear.html

These are videos of Lion Dance and some are from Lion Dance competitions which are really cool! I was watching one on Discovery Channel last night!!! It is soo cool!!!





OK this one is in Rotterdam..I forgot about Rotterdam!!


OMG!!!! So cuuute!!! Adorable kids singing and dancing for the Chinese New Year!!!!