January 25, 2012
Year of the Dragon 5
Happy Chinese New Year! It’s the year of the dragon…the water dragon to be exact and that means it’s an extra special year in the Chinese culture. The actual holiday was on Monday but the Chinese do it right by celebrating for days and weeks. We are planning a special trip out to San Francisco for the Lunar Festival in a couple of weeks. Last year Catherine and I went and had a ball. This year John is able to join in on the fun. It rained last year and I was bummed out about that at first but it ended up playing to our advantage because it wasn’t as crowded. I’m kind of hoping for the same type of weather this year because I’m sure with the year of the dragon the festivities are going to be even more jam packed. Either way we will enjoy the experience.
As we did last year, we made up goody bags for Catherine’s preschool class. We filled them with all kind of traditional Chinese goodies, including a paper dragon. Catherine had a blast filling the bags.
The next day John and I brought all of the goody bags along with a book, the Chinese dragon and lion toy that belong to Catherine and a globe. I got the opportunity to talk to the children about China and what Chinese New Year was. They did so wonderfully and seemed to really enjoy the book and then petting the dragon. In my head I was secretly wondering if Catherine was excited that I was ‘teaching’ her class. She’s not old enough to be embarrassed of me just yet but I know it’s coming. Anyway, the kids had so much fun looking at all of their goodies. Catherine’s bag didn’t have a red envelope for some reason, so I told her that she would get one when we went to see the dragons in San Francisco. I don’t think I can find another red envelope in time before we head out of town.
I look crazy in most of the photos. I don’t do well with candid shots of me. The camera doesn’t love me in that sense, so I picked some of the better ones. This last shot of the whole class I thought turned out so cute! Gotta love a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds!
Yesterday I happened to find something online about the special designed stamps for Lunar New Year celebration. I was off on a hunt for them at the local post office. They are just gorgeous. If Chinese culture means anything to you, I would go get a set of these stamps. They are collectors for sure!
Happy Chinese New Year!!!
Jan 26, 2012 @ 05:09:11
Happy New Year! We do much of the same with AA’s pre-school class with a bag of goodies and some Chinese story-time. Have fun in SF; we hope to get there for CNY too (some year).
Alyzabeth’s Mommy
Jan 26, 2012 @ 19:54:12
So nice of you to go into her class. My granddaughter, Gracie, is 4 but doesn’t seem to have much of an interest in China. I guess we will see how she responds as she grows older. Love those stamps! Blessings
Jan 26, 2012 @ 20:20:41
Debbie- Catherine doesn’t really have the interest in China as she does the dragons and lion dancing. She loves the big CNY parade in New Year and any other event that has the lion dancing.
Alyson- Going to SF is a must do before AA graduates from HS! It’s a blast! Happy New Year!
Jan 26, 2012 @ 21:12:17
Happy New Year. That was so cool that you went to the class and shared. It looks like the kids liked it.
Lisa Freeman recently posted..Receiving Prayer
Jan 28, 2012 @ 12:16:59
Happy New Year Lisa! I think they enjoyed it! I forgot how hard it is to teach to a group of 4 year olds! I know they loved opening their CNY bags though. Too cute!