We may not be in China or Chinese for that matter, but at OTB we’re celebrating Chinese New Year today (any excuse for a party!)
I wouldn’t say were celebrating it in the ‘traditional’ sense but we’ve got Chinese food, everyone is furiously learning how to hold chopsticks, and over in creative, there are dangerous martial arts kicks being thrown as we read ‘kung po’ on the menu.
The year of the dragon
This year it will be the 4710th year in the Chinese calendar. Each year is associated with a different animal and everyone born that year is said to share some of this animal’s traits. This year will be the year of the dragon, which means anyone born this year should be confident, hardworking and always strive to be at the top. The dragon is the only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac and is looked upon as the luckiest of all the animals.
Traditional celebrations
The Chinese New Year is a non-religious holiday based around family and giving, a time to remember family past and present and wish everyone peace and prosperity in the coming year. The aim is to sweep out any bad luck from the old year and clear the way for good luck.
Though most of us will have celebrated our traditional New Year on January 1st, I’m sure none of us spent the time cleaning or reflecting (unless drunk texts to ex-boyfriends counts as reflecting). Maybe this year we should all use the Chinese New Year as a proper, more sober, fresh start. A time to send out our thank you cards, give the house a good clean or just call someone you love to wish them good fortune for the year to come with no evil monsters, whatever those monsters may be.
P.S. If you are worried about real monsters, cover your house with red decorations, as it is supposed to frighten them off.
Katie and Sarah
