Kung Hay Fat Choi

Hello all,

Kung Hay Fat Choi (Happy New Year!)

Right now I am enjoying my New Year’s break. It has been an absolutely amazing experience to celebrate the Chinese New Year here in Hong Kong. On Thursday we went out to catch a glimpse of the New Year’s parade and on Friday night we went out and watched the fireworks. The firework display was probably the best firework display that I have ever seen! On Friday afternoon I enjoyed a New Year’s lunch with a local family. It was absolutely amazing—delicious home cooked food and Mahjong playing! Mahjong is a very traditional Chinese game that is somewhat similar to dominos. It has a ton of rules and is very complicated to learn but very fun once you catch on…On Saturday I spent the day out at the beach with another local family and we had a Cantonese style barbeque. It was delicious. We had all sorts of foods: beef steaks, pork chops, chicken wings, fish balls, squid balls, Chinese sausages, hot dogs, cheese sausages, sweet potatoes, corn, mushrooms, many egg fish, marshmallows and Chinese dessert. It was amazing! And the beach was beautiful!!! We did some hiking and walked up nearly 800 stairs. It was definitely a work out, but the view was worth it.

The New Year’s celebration here is as big as Christmas is in the states. The decorations are absolutely amazing and the buildings are all decorated in lights for the holiday. It truly is an amazing experience! Hong Kong people are very friendly and everyone is in such a festive mood—it is great!

I start back to classes on Wednesday. Everything is going really great with my courses. I have been enjoying the emails that I have received and I miss you all. I hope to hear from you soon!

Kung Hay Fat Choi,
Cassie