Chinese New Year

Prior to this year, I've been pretty ignorant of the Chinese New Year holiday. I remember vaguely in elementary school watching a 1st grade class parade through the hallways on Chinese New Year after they had done some kind of unit on it. I knew it was in January/February. That's about all I knew. Turns out it's kinda a big deal in Asia...who knew?
First off, the day of the new year and the following day are public holidays. This meant a four day weekend for me, but I decided to stick around to take part in the festivities. The celebration officially lasts for 15 days. For the weeks leading up to it, Chinatown pulls out all the stops. The streets are closed off to traffic and stores overflow into the streets. I had a few Singaporeans take me around Chinatown three days before the holiday. They took me to a restaurant and worked out a line-up of Chinese dishes for my sampling. It was kinda like taste-testing...my dream come true. One of them, having studied at ISU, assured me this was the real deal and I wouldn't find it in Ames. Afterwards, we walked through Chinatown. Turns out they give samples of pretty much all the food. Being with Chinese-speaking friends I had soon sampled the green tea candies, pineapple tarts, and the barbecue pork. To top off the night, they insisted I try durian, the "king of fruits" and a local favorite. I'm pretty sure it was more for their enjoyment, than mine. The durian has a distinct scent, and aftertaste, I might add. Check out "Durian" on Wikipedia. The descriptions of the odor will give you an idea :) Anyway, I ate it (while being videotaped) and almost enjoyed it. The texture is good. The smell wasn't that terrible. Didn't really enjoy the aftertaste. I'm told when it's in season, the smell is much stronger. Later that night while trying to rid my hands of the odor I began to understand why the fruit is banned on all public transport.
Another tradition is to have a reunion dinner with the family on the eve of the lunar new year. I was fortunate enough to be invited to one. This dinner takes place over the course of a few hours and a lot of food is consumed, kinda like Thanksgiving, only better. The food is cooked as you want to eat it. There is a "steamboat" in the middle of the table. It's pretty much a pot of boiling water in the middle. There are platters of all kinds of food. Seafood, vegetables, dumplings, meat, etc. Everyone has little fishing-net type things where you can set your food in the pot for a while, and then take it out and eat it. The meal progresses at a leisurely pace. It was interesting to observe the conversation. At this dinner there were several nations represented including Pakistan, Mauritius, Indonesia, Malaysia, and of course Singapore and the US. Conversation turned to politics. I think it was the first time in my travels that people have openly criticized the US and then asked me to explain. Needless to say, I failed miserably. Anywho, at the end of the night, they sent me off with two oranges (for good luck) and one of those sweet red envelopes. These are given to all the kids usually, and you continue getting them until you marry. I asked some of my friends why people marry here. They informed me there were advantages to marrying as well. I'm not convinced.
The last big event I attended was the Chingay Parade. This parade is held at night, and it includes lit-up floats and performers. Countries from all over Asia were represented in the parade. I was lucky enough to have a front row seat...for free. It's tough to describe it properly, so I won't try. Perhaps I'll get some pictures up at some point.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Chinese New Year. It seems to be a cross between Thanksgiving and Christmas. You eat a ton, exchange gifts, and visit all your family throughout those two weeks. I never realized how big a deal it was. Friends on campus even get together and have a dinner. I have come to the conclusion that the US should officially adopt the holiday. We need more public holidays anyway.