It's been awhile since I have written a blog post... It's been a crazy couple of weeks.
It all began with the coming of the Lunar New Year. Some southeast Asian countries celebrate the Lunar New Year so where I am is no different. This year the Lunar New Year fell on Feb. 8th. So most of the schools get at least a week off, my school gave us 10 days (Feb 4-14). What?!? So a couple friends of mine and myself decided to leave the country for the holiday.
Lunar New Year (LNY) is probably the biggest celebration of the year. Some people compare it to Christmas. Students don't get a Christmas break but they get a LNY break. During this time families travel back to their hometowns and spend the week with their family. Their is usually a lot of cooking and eating of traditional foods. The city that I live in is basically shut down, everyone leaves and all the shops close down.
There is a lot of hype as the new year approaches. Everyone is getting ready. You start to see these huge cherry blossom trees and fruit trees on the backs of motorbikes in preparation for the holiday. We had a new year party with our staff the Saturday before and we went bowling and then to our team leader's house for lunch. Then on Monday we went out with our staff to dinner. Then Tuesday we went to one of the sisters who owns our school house to wish them a Happy New Year. Then Wednesday we were on a plane leaving the country.
It was really cool to experience the hype of the LNY but then have a nice relaxing and refreshing holiday.
Happy New Year!