Elise and I were at the mall on Saturday and we saw a line fifteen-people deep at the ATM machine. They were all withdrawing money to put in lai see envelopes. People prefer to give new bills, and because three different banks have been given charters to print the Hong Kong dollar, people even have preferences about which banks notes they like to give based on design.The week before Chinese New Year break, I put the word out to students that Mr. VanNoord was starting a lai see envelope collection. Why not. They are small, lightweight, colorful, and highly emblematic of Chinese Culture.
Although lai see envelopes are supposed to flow from married couples to young people, I noticed at school that the tradition is being expanded. Just before break, students –mostly girls- were giving lai see envelopes to each other. Instead of putting in money, they had put in little gold-wrapped chocolate coins. Student even gave lai see with chocolate coins to their teachers.
-Jack
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