It’s the year of the pig! The 12th and last animal in the Chinese zodiac. The pig represents generosity and prosperity and not only for those born in the year of the pig. The pig is generous to all. So we can all look forward to a year of good luck and great fortune in 2019.
There are several traditional dishes eaten at Chinese New Year. One that goes back to my childhood is a stewed pork and dried oyster dish with a type of dried vegetable that defies description. When dry, it resembles some very fine, black steelwool (some of you may not even know what that is). When cooked, it looks like extra fine black angel hair pasta. But the name of the vegetable sounds like fat choi and so it is eaten at Chinese New Year. It’s in the far left of the pic below.
Chinese New Year is about family, so getting together with family over a meal is another tradition. Instead of gifts, parents and grandparents hand out little red packets filled with cash. These packets are called Lai See 🧧 are red in color to symbolize energy, happiness and good luck. They are also usually ornately decorated with dragons or phoenixes or Chinese words for luck or happiness in shiny gold color and are generally handed out in pairs. Chinese children learn very quickly to look for money inside these little red packets!
Happy Chinese New Year to all. May you all be showered with prosperity in this year of the pig. Kung Hei Fat Choi 🧧🥃
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Published by Joy
I am a 60-something year old South African of Chinese descent. Although my heritage is Chinese and I cannot live without rice, I feel more connected to South Africa and the diverse South African culture than I do to China.
I have lived all my life in South Africa. South Africa is a beautiful country, with wonderful coastlines and beaches, incomparable wildlife and some beautiful mountains. We have long, hot summers and tolerable winters, with snow only in a few places. We seem to have it all.
I am fortunate to have travelled a little. I have travelled to London and Scotland in the UK; Sidney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast in Australia; New York, Boston and Colorado in the US; Beijing, Shanghai, Canton and Xi’An in China; Hong Kong and Mauritius. I would like to travel more and on my bucket list is Japan, Italy and the Northern Lights. At some point, I would like to visit China again, I was last there more than twenty years ago.
I have worked for large organizations nearly all my life. I have been fired once, nearly fired twice, and as recent as last year, I was retrenched. But I have also been promoted, won excellence awards with monetary awards and once awarded with a trip overseas. I think I can claim to have experienced it all!
The retrenchment that I recently experienced was bitter sweet because I had already reached retirement age. So theoretically I should have been sitting at home by my pool anyway. But it was still a shock to find myself with no reason to get out of bed every morning for more than six months.
So yes, I am still on the wrong side of 60, that won’t change, but I am no longer unemployed. I am not certain how long my current employment will last, but I am content for now. And should I find myself unemployed for any length of time again, I think I would do things differently. For example, I will make those plans to travel and tick a few more desires off my bucket list.
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Happy Chinese New Year, Joy!
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