Happy CNY

Wishing you all good fortune, good health, your dreams come true and all the rest of it this lunar new year. I hear it's the year of the Golden Pig, but have yet to figure out what exactly has made the pig golden this time around. If someone knows offhand, do fill me in. What I do know is that Hong Kong is relatively peaceful this time of year. Who would've guessed... I suppose everyone's off travelling or visiting relatives somewhere but there don't seem to be many people out and about.

The major exception though is at the New Year's Flower Market, which I experienced for the first time this year. Imagine throngs of people, fresh flowers galore and balloons in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from Chupa Chups to giraffes to trophy cups and mushrooms a la Super Mario Bros. It's a sight. The beautiful thing is that no one's really in a rush to go anywhere or push ahead, so you just sort of flow along with the crowd. It's oddly kind of fun. Of course, it's not so fun to hear the announcements about lost children, but I think I'm finally starting to understand this very Hong Kong idea of going to a crowded place just for the heck of it.

So, Chinese New Year, regular New Year, or for whatever reason, the past month and a half has actually been pretty fruitful for me as far as resolutions/new starts/trying new things go... It's no marathon, but I did my first 10km run with a friend and finished with a respectable time; I started Chinese (Mandarin) lessons again with a focus on seriously learning to read and write; I started going to a new (to me) yoga studio; got my first perm (no, it's not crazy curly -- in fact, just barely wavy); started tutoring a new student; and finished up one volunteering stint with youth probationers (more to come on this in another post) and signed up for another one starting in March. It's been busy, but good. I'm hoping to keep riding this wave of enthusiasm for as long as it lasts. Wish me luck! If all continues well, I have a feeling the rest of this school year will fly by and then I'll be back North America-side for a couple brief visits to see two of my dearest friends tie the knot with their respective other halves. I can't wait!