“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” ― Oprah Winfrey
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| Me on Feb 18, 2024 |
I am of three cultures, Ilocano, French-Canadian, and Korean. I was raised with two New Year's celebrations. Mom always called it the Korean New Year, but as I got older I learned other Asians celebrated it and have other names for it. Most people I knew, called it Chinese New Year or Tet. I just call it Lunar New Year to be more inclusive to all people who celebrate.
This time of year, people usually put money in a red envelope as a gift. The Chinese have a phonetic saying, "Gung hey fat choy," which does not mean "Happy New Year," but more along the lines of "have more money." How cool is that?
It's like Christmas all over again. Gift-giving and well-wishes. I was able to give to a woman I befriended when I lived in Oregon. She lost her teenaged son to gun violence a few months back (article). And then someone stole her clothes off her clothesline, so her younger children had no winter coats and she lost all her scrubs for work. I wish people would take into consideration that some people are really struggling in life and financially, and that taking from others is damaging them more. According to her surveillance camera footage, it was a teenager who stole the clothes.
I hope that my little bit of money, which was basically money earned from a gratuity, can be used for warm coats. I hope everyone does better this year. If January 1st wasn't the beginning of a New Year, at least we have February to start again.
새해 복 많이 받으세요 (Happy New Year in Korean)
Beautiful blog
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