Happy Chinese New Year!
Today is a very special day in China (and other countries around the world that celebrate the Lunar New Year). Chinese New Year/Spring Festival is a huge holiday, much like Christmas is in the US. It is celebrated for 15 days with festivals, food, lanterns, dragon dances and other traditions. Our agency even sent us a memo that the government will be shut down for half a month, so all processing of paperwork and other things is on hold until the Chinese New Year celebration has finished.
2014 is the year of the horse, which is said to bring prosperity and wealth. We could definitely use both, although we know that true prosperity and wealth comes from knowing Christ, not the Chinese zodiac. Still, it is important to learn about Zachary's culture and to recognize the traditions of the Chinese. Zachary will always be Chinese and our hope and prayer is that we can keep him connected with his roots, so that we all can grow to love and appreciate the rich culture and beautiful people of his homeland.
So, today Asher, Laurel and I set out to decorate the house for the Chinese New Year. We made paper lanterns (which are said to light the way for the New Year to come in). We used a broom to "sweep out the old year". We made Chinese dragons out of egg cartons, practiced our Mandarin by saying "Gong Xi Fa Cai" to each other (rather crudely I'm sure!). We found some children's books on Chinese New Year at the library and have been reading them throughout the week.
We listened to traditional Chinese music while we made an orange cake, because oranges symbolize prosperity and are given as gifts in the New Year. Asher wanted to have a friend over, so when Josh got home we made chicken stir fry and egg rolls and shared our Chinese dinner with some great friends who are so excited for us and played along. It was a lot of fun! Asher seemed to really understand that we were doing this because this is how they celebrate where Zachary lives. He seems to have a special sensitivity for other cultures and people, he asked a lot of questions about what they do and why.
As I was enjoying our small, but heartfelt celebration, the irony was not lost on me. Here we are, celebrating the culture of our soon to be adopted son, while he is most likely not even celebrating at all. Perhaps the orphanage where he lives did do something to recognize the holiday. Maybe they gave out special treats, or let the kids outside to see some fireworks. I really have no idea what he did today, but I hope it was something special. We sure did have a fun time here in America, celebrating his culture...celebrating him.
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