Chinese New Year

Yo Yo,

It is Chinese New Years out here and it is quite a trip. Each year, every working man and women in the city takes a 4-5 day hiatis to spend with their families. That said, the only people that have been around campus are the 170 international kids, who are out and ready to have a good time. The 170 of us are keeping the security guards quite busy. They are not used to Americans, Canadians, and a mixture of Europeans coming back drunk from the Lan Quai Fong district. They will learn.

So far, there have been some cool cultural aspects of the New Year. There are different events going on every day, so we have all been trying our best to make it to as many events as possible. Two days ago, we went to what is called the Flower Market. This is an enormous market set up in Victoria Park, where the locals all visit to buy their “good luck flowers” for the New Year. My favorite flower was the “panty rose,” which is a red little thong rolled into what looks like a rose and is attached to a stem. I’m still unclear whether the panty rose would make an acceptable gift, or be an appropriate first date gesture, but I still found it quite amusing.

I cannot describe to you how packed this market is. There are wall to wall people in a space equivalent to about 20-25 football fields. In fact, the police force tries to regulate the crowd by making the sidewalks all one way. When people cross the street, the cops frequently use a rope to lasso the crowds in order to let the traffic get by. It is very humorous.

Another funny thing is that all of the locals prefer umbrellas to raincoats. This is very dangerous since they all stand at a towering 5’4”. The hoisted umbrellas all are at eye level, and become a true health risk. It began to rain while we were in the market, and if a satellite shot was taken, there would have been a few gaps in the crowd where there were not umbrellas. Each of those gaps definitely represented packets of Americans. It’s a classic case of Where’s Waldo.

Last night, we headed down to the Chinese New Years Night Parade. This was a lot of fun. We didn’t arrive too early, so we were stuck a couple of rows behind the gates. However, being Hong Kong, we were able to see pretty well since we are a few inches taller than the locals. The parade was filled with exhibitions from all over the world. America definitely represented very well, sending the UCLA marching band and cheerleaders. While this performance was a showstopper in itself, the Americans came through again when the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders came strutting by. It was ridiculous. All of the locals were drooling. I love America.

I will threw up a couple of pictures so you can get a sense of what the parade was all about. The theme of the night was “Po- Po,” which is Cantonese for “hug.” One of the favorite cheers of the group was “We will, we will, Po-Po-Lo.” This phrase was legitimately echoed for 45 minutes before the parade started and consistently throughout. It was really funny.

After the parade, the International kids all met up with each other unintentionally outside of Club Seven. This is one of the more exclusive clubs in the city. They actually have it in the States as well. At home, it is better known as Seven Eleven. It is really funny. It is the only cheap way to get a decent beer, and you are allowed to drink in the store and on the streets before heading to the bars. It’s really a great thing. I’ll be in touch soon. Stay classy, San Diego.