Lai See part 2 of 2

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

Lai See part 1 of 2

By far, kids’ favorite aspect of New Years are the lai see envelopes. Families will spend the better part of the week either visiting family and friends or hosting family and friends. When younger people visit older people, it is a long-standing Chinese tradition for the older folks to present young people with a red lai see envelope with cash in it. Lai see envelopes are always red for good luck, but in the last few decades, the designs have become quite elaborate. They can include fish, animals, castles, people, and cherry blossoms.

Banks either sell or make available lai see envelopes to their customers. The banks discreetly print their logo and name on the envelopes. Disney, on the other hand is not so discreet. Disney offers a whole series of lai see envelopes. This being the year of the tiger, the ones featuring Tigger are the most popular. It nice to see the old boy in the limelight after playing second fiddle to Pooh all these years.

The amount of cash given in a lai see envelope depends on the closeness of the relationship. Friends of the family might slip kids a lai see envelope with US$2.00 or US$5.00 or US$10.00. My students told me that Grandpa and Grandma can be counted on for US$75 or US$100 or more. A kid who spends the week making the rounds can bank in excess of several hundred dollars.

Only married people are expected to hand out lai see money to single people. Once you get married, you stop getting and have to start giving lai see envelopes. In fact, newlyweds are expected to be particularly generous as this will bring good luck to their marriage.

-Jack

Q: Why did Tigger have his head in the toilet?
A: He was looking for Pooh.

Year of the Tiger

Chinese New Year Outfits

Chinese New Year part 2 of 2

As you probably know, we are entering the Year of the Tiger which means that tigers are everywhere. Cute little cartoon tigers seem to be the most popular. We have seen several little kids with cute hoods that look like tiger heads. We are just so glad we are not here for the year of the rat.

Red of course is the Chinese color for good luck and prosperity, so everything this time of year is decked out in red with splashes of gold tossed in.

I had to drop Annika off at a babysitting job Saturday morning. I brought my camera and spent an extra hour hanging around the markets of Tai Wai. It was an absolute zoo. It was busier than I have ever seen it before. People were buying last-minute fruits and vegetables, meat, and flowers in order to prepare for their guests.

Sunday, after Church we stayed on the island to get some lunch and to check out the action on Kings Road. While Julie and the girls popped into one shop after another, I wandered the sidewalk and watched people. Just about every kid under the age of three was dolled up in a traditional Chinese outfit. The little girls all had on embroidered silk dress and the boys had on either red or gold quilted jackets with matching pants. Some of the boys even had on coordinating little hats. A few parents caught me taking pictures of their little ones in their festive outfits. Rather than being put-off, the parents smiled and seemed rather proud.

Chinese New Year part 1 of 2

Chinese New Year is in full swing. And let me tell you, it’s a big deal. I read somewhere that it is the biggest annual human migration. I believe it. It seems that everyone is going somewhere. People use the week to go back to visit family and friends. It’s like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Years all rolled into one.

I know that everybody gets a week off for New Years, but I wanted to know which of the next nine days is the actual New Year’s day. So before break, I asked my students. They couldn’t tell me. The best they could say was “Well Mr. VanNoord, it’s kinda like a whole week.” True enough.

Chinese New Year is a time to get rid of the old and replace it with new and make a new start. Many people in China and Hong Kong use the New Year to replace household items like dishes, rugs and even furniture. On our seventh floor, we have a little lounge area. Last week, a very nice area rug suddenly appeared. When I inquired, sure enough, one of our ICS families had donated a slightly used rug because ostensibly they had purchased a new one in anticipation of the New Year.

About two or three weeks ago, we started noticing small potted orange trees –actually, they are more like a bush. They are small, but they are completely covered in tiny mandarin oranges. These bushes appeared in bank lobbies and outside of restaurants. They are everywhere.

Chinese New Years Cakes

Elise poked at it with her fork. Annika tried scraping it with her knife. We were all waiting for somebody else to go first. It was cake, how dangerous could it be?

One of my students -Erica- had given me a traditional Chinese New Year cake just before we started our one-week break. It came in a beautiful six-sided box. It was heavy, dense, and dark. It looked and felt like a big, round brick of caramel. Julie wasn’t even convinced that it was a cake. She thought that it was supposed be heated, melted, and poured over something. I told her I was pretty sure Erica had said it was a cake.

The girls were anxious to get started on the dinner dishes, so if we was going to do this, it had better be now.

I cut off a chunk.

I ate it.

I was okay.

It took some cajoling, but Julie, Annika, and Elise each had a piece. The girls were less than impressed. I was trying to be a good sport, so just for show, I had another big chunk. Yum.

We finished dinner and the girls started doing the dishes. I decided to check my email. The following email from Erica was waiting for me in my inbox:

hi Mr. VanNoord:

just in case you don't know how to cook the cake.

slice the cake into thin slices and panfry on both sides with a little butter or oil. It’s your choice, but if you want to you can also dip the pieces into a little whipped egg before panfrying to add a different texture and taste. It’s a chinese traditional thing.

well, i hope you enjoy it.

Erica

Oops. That explains a lot, actually.

We panfried some up the next night.

Yup, traditon Chinese New Year cake is definitely much better cooked.

-Jack

In front of a Chinese New Year Tree