The Magic of Lunar New Year

Happy Lunar New Year! The animal illustrations are so cute. Thank you Ruth.

I relate to this so much, Ruth! The formula I’ve adopted for Lunar New Year is similar. We invite close friends and have a big dinner of some home-cooked and some takeout Chinese food to make prep a little easier.

Love Rith’s illustrations! Happy Lunar New Year!

Love this, Ruth Chan is the best.

As a child refugee in Hong Kong, my family and I celebrated the new year with so much noise (hello, fire crackers!), food, laughter, and red envelopes. Red confetti rained down and covered the ground. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits. I missed it all terribly when we finally emigrated here to the US, but we make do with big, delicious family dinners, some games, red envelopes, and visiting places that celebrate the new year. Happy Lunar New Year!

Ruth’s story and illustrations and all these comments are so wonderful!! Happy Lunar New Year!!!

The Spaghetti House and Sasa signs in the first cell brought a big smile to my face. I used to gorge on the baked spaghetti there when I was a kid! :) Happy new year!

Lovely! Thank you, Ruth, and Happy Lunar New Year 😊

Feel the same way:) Happy New Year!

I appreciate this. By the way, “It’s not the same here..” is an understatement. Why isn’t lunar new year a national holiday yet?

This brought a smile to my face. Thank you!

Now that I’m older, I have empathy for my immigrant parents not being able to fully celebrate Lunar New Year here. Growing up, I always thought it was a weekend but in Asia it’s HUGE, like Christmas is here with all the bells and whistles but longer. Work shuts down for a week or more so everyone can celebrate with family and friends and travel. What’s not to love about that? I think we should officially add this holiday tradition to our roster too! :) Happy Year of the Rabbit Everyone!!!

Happy Lunar New Year, Ruth!

Happy Lunar New Year! Ruth Chan’s work always makes me feel seen, and it’s so great that CoJ has made space to amplify Ruth’s work

:)

Gung hay fat choy, Cup of Jo community!

My toddler’s fantastic daycare educator is Chinese and she’s been teaching them about Lunar New Year, it’s been so cute to see their little activities. They did “spring cleaning” (kids love to play with a broom and dust pan!), they made little pretend firecrackers, they’ve painted lanterns, she taught them Chinese children songs. We’re so fortunate for his wonderful teachers and I’m so thankful he’s learning about other cultures. Happy Lunar New Year!

What a warm, delightful piece! I love the sentiments described – laughing loudly, cheeks flushed, and the sense of familiarity and togetherness.
Happy Chinese New Year to all.

This is so lovely! My best friend is an immigrant from China and she recently expressed similar sentiments. She considers herself fully American, but has started incorporating cultural traditions for the sake of her young daughter, and I’ve been invited along for the special journey.

I’ve got my red basket of 8 (an auspicious number in Asian culture) fresh organic hand-shined red apples all ready to give to my acupuncturist at my appointment on Monday! I love getting to wish her a peaceful year ahead. At first, I was nervous that it would be perceived as rude or assumptive to have done a Google search (what if it’s incorrect?!?) on the customs and partake in celebrating her culture with her, but then I thought,.. well, I’m Jewish and if someone did a Google search on our customs it would likely tell them to bring a loaf of challah bread (to anything, anytime) & I would certainly not be offended at that gesture! So I went ahead and brought her some apples last year & she was beyond surprised and touched. Happy Year of the Rabbit to all!!