“Human space flight is a passion…When we work together, we work as a family.”

 

-- Ron Dittemore, NASA Shuttle Program Manager, at today's afternoon news conference

 

 

Amazing that this agency, in its hour of grief, swears to us all to be open and transparent, spilling far more than tears to help us understand this tragedy even when they know so little as yet themselves.

 

Amazing that it takes a tragedy of this nature for us to remember we, the human family, should be reaching not for each others neck’s – we should be reaching for the stars.

  4:58:55 PM    comment []

We’ve been watching coverage continuously on the Shuttle Columbia.

 

My five-year-old son, excited over something unrelated, is chattering away.  His dad asks him to hold the noise down, we’re watching something important and serious right now on TV.

 

Son: What’s going on?

 

Dad: A space ship exploded on the way home.

 

(We look at each other, not quite certain how much to add or if this is too much.)

 

Was it an asteroid, did it hit them?

 

No.

 

Son: Did they lose power?

 

We don’t know yet.

 

Oh. (pause)  What happened to the astronauts?

 

(Swallow, pause) 

 

Dad: They passed away.

 

(Good God, I don’t want to tell him and yet we can’t be ambiguous)

 

Me: They died.   

 

Oh. (pause)

 

Son looks down, walks away - quietly.

  4:18:38 PM    comment []

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the astronauts of the Shuttle Columbia.

 

  11:44:44 AM    comment []

 

GUNG HEY FAT CHOY!!!  HAPPY YEAR OF THE SHEEP!!!

 

You’d think, being part-Asian, I’d already have the festivities lined up for this day.  Somehow this snuck up on me (ironically, like quiet sheep grazing in a pasture) – I forgot completely to plan ahead and prepare something special for this holiday! 

 

As a family, we didn’t do a lot for the Lunar New Year holiday when I was a kid.  We’d typically fix an Asian meal at home.  When I was very little, my father would buy moon cakes in Chinatown for the occasion.  They did remind me of the moon: round, a little dimpled, ghostly white with a little red symbol on the face of the cake.  Dark, rich and sugary inside contrasting the smooth bland outside – ah, heaven in one’s small palms.  When in Honolulu’s Chinatown a couple years ago, I bought a half dozen: three with black bean and three with red bean paste filling.  Shamelessly, I nibbled away at them all by myself for 3 days, didn’t share a bite.  Closest I’ve ever come to feeling four years old again.

 

I’d like to try to put a little more effort into Lunar New Year for my kids.   It’s part of their heritage after all; it’d be easy for them to forget even looking in the mirror since they’ve only inherited Asian brown eyes and are otherwise blond and fair.  The population where we live in the Midwest is a bit homogeneous, too.  Means they have little exposure to the diversity of world cultures.  They really can’t afford to grow up in a sterile environment.  Someday, Lunar New Year will be more ubiquitous around the world.  The impact of the Asian diaspora has only just begun; imagine millions people of Asian heritage, moving around the world.

 

I’ve only just sent the whole family New Year’s e-cards; I should already have swept and cleaned the house, too!  But we’ll make the best of it.  I’m going to make some dumplings, steamed fish and noodles for dinner and nian gao (sweet cakes) for dessert.  The kids will have fun helping, especially with the dumplings and the nian gao.

 

Oh, you too?  Forgot completely, or don’t know how to get into the spirit of this holiday?  Here’s a bunch of resources for you:

 

Learn more about the Lunar New Year:

 

Year of the Sheep from Taipei.org – Why the Year of the Sheep?  Check here!

 

Myths and Taboos – includes the stuff I should already have done…

 

Asian-American Village at IMDiversity.com – many different resources, including clip art sources

 

ChinaSprout.com’s New Year page – link-rich environment

 

More information about the Chinese calendar and New Year – wow, I learned that last year was a Chinese leap year at this site!

 

Nice overview brought to you by FlowerDrumSong.com – and a couple fun tidbits

 

Chinese New Year at Web-Holidays – nice explanation, plenty of other links

 

Just for Kids:

 

Fun stuff at KidsDomain.com – a hodge-podge of goodies

 

Coloring projects and paper lantern – we’ll be making the lanterns here!

 

Calligraphy, costumes, kites and more – a bonanza of links for arts and crafts projects

 

Send a Lunar New Year card:

 

123ChineseNewYear – has a few e-cards and holiday wallpaper

 

1001PostCards – very nice selection of e-cards!

 

Yahoo! – animated cards here

 

Just for fun:

 

Check your Chinese Horoscope for this year!

 

Shelly Wu’s Chinese Astrology

 

One pointer: in the Chinese Zodiac, sheep (rams or ewes) and goats are interchangeable.  You’ll note different sites show this as the Year of the Goat.  (Personally, I prefer Year of the Sheep, just sounds a little less antagonistic for some reason!)

 

My apologies to my Korean, Viet, Japanese and Tibetan friends; being of Chinese heritage, my post is oriented toward my family’s culture.  Please feel free to comment and share your celebrations observing Sol (Korean), Têt (Viet), Oshogatsu (Japanese) and Losar (Tibetan) Lunar New Year.

 

Gung Hey Fat Choy!  May the Year of the Sheep bring peace and prosperity to you!

  11:21:32 AM    comment []

Gung Hey Fat Choy!

Happy Lunar New Year!

  1:52:09 AM    comment []