D-131, I see lai see

For the first day of the new Chinese year of the Ox, I went to... work. I have subsenquently found out that this is illegal, unless you get paid the overtime rate, but nevermind, Krusty is out of town and I had nothing better to do, anyway. If I had stayed at home, I would probably just have knit all day!

The day started with the boss of the company I was working at handing out lai see - or red envelopes, filled with money. This is a tradition which I thought I understood, but it turns out it's much more complicated than it seems. Basically married people give the red pockets to unmarried people, and don't receive any themselves. That means, no free money for me! One of the guys in the office had also lost one of his grandparents that weekend, so he couldn't receive money either. BUT he could take it from his boss, because that trumps death and marriage. I also had to give some to the guards in our building, even if they were married.

There are other complicated rites and rituals at this time, too. For example, it's recommended you don't lend anyone anything on New Year’s Day, because the Chinese believe that if you lend anything such as money today, you'll be lending it for the rest of the year to come. So far, mission accomplished, although I did let someone use my computer... Does that count?

Similarly, you shouldn't cry on New Year’s Day, or you’ll be crying for the rest of the year, too. That also means that parents shouldn't do anything that makes their kids cry, like tell them to switch their video games off, or finish their sprouts... Again, mission accomplished. So far. I'm trying not to watch any films, as I have been known to cry at the first father shrinking his kids, or lion cub losing his father in a stampede...

What I found out you could do, is wear red clothes (mission failed, I'm in grey), eat veggies (failed again, I had pasta), and clean up (hmmm no comment).

OK, I failed all of those. But I did cook dinner for my friends whose baby is in hospital at the moment. That's got to count?