Mariko sent me a lovely card via the internet. Every year she sends New Years' cards to her friends. This is a Japanese tradition, one which I really like if I could find New Years cards here. Of course, when I was living in Japan, it was hard to find Christmas cards (they eat a Christmas cake in Japan and sing Happy Birthday to Santa, but I digress).Anyway, I get M's New Year's card and she wrote this:
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year!
After some quick Internet research (mainly reading wikipedia), I learned that 2009 is the year of the Ox. A quick scan of horoscope sites revealed that the ox year should be marked with hard work and dedication.
I certainly hope these qualities mark your year!
Best in 2009
Mariko
And this was my reply:
I'm about to have a second baby. Is there any doubt my entire year will be marked with "hard work and dedication?"
S**t...
Send me a Happy New Year card when the year is marked with fun, great sex, and relaxation, would you? ;-)
Love,
Jen
At least I'm not bitter... ;-)
3 comments:
Sending New Year's cards also is very common in India, although it's gotten muddled because there's the Hindu New Year (which like Chinese New Year is based on an astrological calendar), but India also has gotten very Westernized, so people make a big deal about Jan. 1 as well. I don't think Christmas has gotten any unusual traditions like being perceived as Santa's birthday, but it also has become increasingly popular to celebrate. My mom says that when we were little, our family didn't celebrate Christmas but she would give us gifts on the appropriate Hindu holidays. Then we started going to preschool and demanding presents on Dec. 25 like everyone else, so our parents rolled with it and now my mom loves secular Christmas. She wasn't even in the U.S. for this past Christmas, but she still insisted on putting up decorations.
That's awesome! Do you still exchange gifts for the Hindu holidays as well?
John says "hi." :-)
Hi John!
We hadn't exchanged gifts for the Hindu holidays in a while, but my getting married seems to have revived my whole family's interest in tradition. Every time my husband enters a family member's house (and this includes my uncle, my second cousin once removed...), he is given a new shirt and often also a towel.
Clothing is a traditional gift to give as part of a blessing, but I was really puzzled by the towels. I've finally concluded that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy must have gotten inserted into a Vedic text, and now people believe that a young couple starting out in life ought to be armed with lots of towels.
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