Happy Chinese New Year! I took part in welcoming in the Year of the Dog tonight with my friend Liz's family. This is the same friend with whom I enjoyed Christmas dinner- her family is so gracious and I do enjoy sharing the holiday meals with them! Her grandma prepared a traditional Chinese feast tonight- we had all kinds of things I can't quite name- a big, delicious salad with a shaved carrot base, with things like nuts, fruit compote, pomelo, and octopus mixed in, shark's fin soup (very controversial I know, but I figured I ought to at least try it while I was there), salad with abalone, pork and fish maw casserole, hand-made noodles with pork and vegetables, and a dessert made of yams and red beans. I was prepared ahead of time and brought two mandarin oranges, as is the custom for visitors during the new year. And Liz's parents gave me a red packet as I was leaving- a red envelope with money in it. It is typical to give money to visitors during the new year to help them welcome in a prosperous new year. In fact, the new year celebrations are really focused on the idea of having a prosperous, or wealthy, new year. It seems that Chinese culture emphasizes wealth as the key to being happy. Not what I would usually associate with "eastern" ideals- in the west we often think of the east as representing a simple, feng shui kind of life, but reality here in Singapore seems to be that happiness is wrapped up in commercialism and wealth. Or at least that's what people think. Although I have read in quite a few magazines lately that Singaporeans wish more than anything to spend more time with their families, and work less. People work really hard here- there is definitely a similar work ethic as the United States.

I'm looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow. It's been a long and exhausting week and I feel like I need a break! Put a lot of time into bar studying- Heather and I are listening to the lectures now- and had quite a few outings planned in the evenings, including a trip to Chinatown on Thursday for the festive season. One of Heather's friends from class took us on a tour of Chinatown, introducing us to many of the special holiday foods, and explaining the traditions of the holiday. The streets of Chinatown were full of venders selling all kinds of holiday treats- dried meat, candies, nuts, fruit- decorations- red and gold are the colors that everyone decorates with- and special gifts for loved ones. It was SO crowded in fact, that we inched along from vender to vender at a snail-like pace. Not something I feel that I especially need to experience again, but I'm glad I went!

For the next 3 days the entire city will be virtually shut down. Almost all employees have a 4-day weekend for the holiday, and indeed, some businesses are closed for the entire week. I was told not to expect to be able to go to the grocery store, any restaurants, or shops for the next several days. So I have stocked up for the long weekend and plan to hole away in my apartment tomorrow and get caught up on some sleep and other things that need to be done.