The year of the Ox is about to be ushered in tonight. The firecrackers are starting and will continue on through the afternoon and the day. It has been a couple of years since I was actually in China for a New Years so I'm excited to be here and experience it again. I must say that I think in general the
firecrackers are much less this year than in the past. Yes, they are certainly out there but there have been fewer explosions at 3 am than in the past and I think the vendors selling firecrackers are much smaller than before.
So how do foreigners celebrate Chinese New Year? Well, the
opportunity to blow things up with gunpowder seems to be exciting for all foreigners (well, men more specifically)... A little tradition that started in Fukang by some men a couple of years ago is to blow up stuffed animals (yes, usually their
children's old stuffed animals). This year I was privileged enough to actually observe some of this. There is an art to inserting the firecracker inside so that on the first explosion it rises and on the second it completing explodes raining down stuffing. I'm pretty sure that this
tradition just confirms the idea that the Chinese have that foreigners are just strange... :) These two pictures are one of a stuffed animal that has been "prepped" and the second is the leftover carnage. The kids love to watch it and go collect all the leftovers. :) If you want to see an actual video of this you can check out this.
Yesterday, I also went ice sledding with some of the kids from school. It started as a girls "small group" activity and kind of grew to include most of the kids that are here over the break. My roommates and I invited them all back for hot chocolate/dinner/games. It was a lot of fun with about 12 kids staying
for dinner and games (I had made a big pot of soup that morning and we fed and we really enjoyed having them.
4 comments:
Hi Jenn,
I wish I could have gone ice sledding with you. I looks like a lot of fun. I watched the video. Crazy, but fun!
Mom
Happy year of the bull! There were a lot of celebrations here as well, since there's a lot of Chinese. Blowing up stuffed animals with firecrackers?...well, that just sounds like good wholesome family fun! I need to try it! The ice sledding looks cold though. :)
Wow, love that exploding frog! Fun!
Thanks guys. Yes it was cold Dave, I guess your Alaska days are over huh? And yes, the kids love blowing up the stuffed animals just as much as the adults.
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