Year of the rooster

It's a new year and we're all older than we were yesterday. Midnight brought in a new lunar year, fireworks and a renewed hope that this year will be luckier than the last. Sucess will be abundant, money will be plentiful and love will be in the air. The year of the rooster will probably be the same same but different to ones gone before and life will continue as per usual. But the expectation of happier moments and wealthier times was fervent in the air last night as the government burst colors through the sky and the crowds cheered. Fireworks were followed by a frantic effort to pull down all the trees in the neighborhood. Apparently it doesn't matter if the trees have bad luck, just as long as the people collect good omens. It was obvious to us just how special the moment was but we felt separate from the celebrations. We can not understand just how meaningful this day is for the Vietnamese because of the color of our skins and the language that we speak.

For the next few days we must be on our best behavior. No arguments, negative thoughts or bad actions. It's bad luck for those who have had an accident or lost a job, a relative to enter people's homes. Tomorrow Mike and I will bring all three curses to The's home when we enter the region of bird flu in order to experience what the New Year is actually about. But for now it's observation and guessing. Because we are not nor will we ever be Vietnamese.