chinese new year

we had this week off for chinese new year (or lunar new year as it's known outside of china) and rather than stay in hong kong, dhwani, sarah, sarah's friend jeffrey and i went to shenzhen to spend the holiday with a friend from the university and her family. shenzhen is the same city i visited early during my time in hong kong, as well as the city i must pass through to visit most anywhere else in china. tourists rarely stop there, and up to now, i'd had no real reason to. after spending a few days there with lusi and her family, though, i have a much more positive outlook on the city.

chinese new year is sort of like a mix between thanksgiving and christmas. most of the holiday is spent with family, watching festivities on television and eating ridiculous amounts of food. gifts are given in the form of red envelopes filled with money. anyone who is unmarried can expect to receive a red envelope from those that are married. lusi's family was incredibly accommodating, and although they spoke very little english, lusi's fantastic translating allowed us to have some pretty involved conversations. it was also a great opportunity for me to practice my chinese. i seem to be a pretty absurd spectacle to most chinese people, though. not only am i tall beyond comprehension, but i speak poor mandarin with a midwestern accent. in general, since the majority of older chinese people speak little to no english, i'm still encouraged to try to speak, since it's the only way we can really communicate anything.

a few highlights from the trip included eating some fantastic chinese food (much better than anything i've had in hong kong), making pork dumplings with lusi's family, a trip to the "countryside" with lusi's extended family (including a trip to the driving range!), lighting fireworks along an abandoned highway and getting kicked out of a 7-11 by chinese gangsters. it was so fantastic to be taken in by lusi's whole family, who were so warm and friendly despite the language barrier and our joining what is usually a pretty strictly family gathering. all in all, a great few days.

in other news:

- in the chinese calendar, each year is named after a different animal. last year was the year of the pig. this year is the year of the rat. i'm a rat. this should be a good year?
- i'm going to tibet in march! i'll be visiting friends in chengdu and kunming on either end.
- it's freezing in hong kong. the weather is colder than it's been in ten years. this is made even more complicated by the fact that no one in hong kong or china has heat. we've spent the last two weeks huddled around our space heater.
- almost recovered from the wild boar/monkey/chupacabra/badger ferret bite. last rabies shot is next saturday.

and some photos from china:

the first of many meals with lusi and her family.

the crew hard at work on their dumplings.

all alone at my station.

sarah and her sparklers.

dhwani and lusi in a strawberry patch.

at the driving range. i think i'm reacting to jeffrey hitting his ball backwards. (btw, we're all wearing the same clothes in all these photos, not because it all happened on the same day, but because it was too cold to change. never having heat changes the way you view things like showers or clean clothes)

maybe the most awkward photo of all time?

all of us together in the 'countryside'