Thursday, February 22, 2007 — February 18 was the first day of the lunar calendar, and I rang in the new year with my family in California. Lunar New Year is one of my favorite holidays, as it is about new beginnings, seeing family, and of course, great food!

My mother is Chinese and has always made a point to teach me about my heritage, so I'm glad that I am able to keep the traditions going even as an adult. I look forward to seeing her every year for this celebration, and I get to see lots of other family as well!

This year, I arrived home a couple days before the big night to find a totally spotless house and beautiful red decorations everywhere. I was hoping to help my mom clean, but she beat me to it! (I'm also really glad she didn't ask me whether I had cleaned my home in Millsberry, because I didn't have any time as I was preparing for my trip.)

In Chinese tradition, you clean your house for the new year to wash away the previous year and leave room for good fortune to arrive. You also wear new clothing, and a lot of red, as red is said to scare away evil sprits, and welcome prosperity. Red is one of my favorite colors, so I love seeing the house in this festive hue.

All of the other Weis traveled from afar to join us for a banquet on New Year's Eve, and I had a ball with my relatives who came all the way from China. Lunar New Year is the most important Chinese holiday and is a time to reunite with family. It is also traditional for the older relatives to give red envelopes filled with money to the younger family members. Our family uses envelopes with the Chinese character for "Wei" on them. I think I've saved every envelope since I was about five years old!

Lunar New Year is a major holiday in other Asian countries such as Korea and Vietnam. It's a great time to enjoy the company of family and start the year on a fresh, hopeful note. Now that I'm back in Millsberry I'm trying to spread the goodwill around, and share a part of my cultural upbringing with you. A few stores in Millsberry have hopped on the bandwagon and have some Lunar New Year items for sale today! I've already picked up a few beautiful lanterns for my home.

Thanks for reading my first big feature, and stay tuned for more stories from me!