Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Chinese New Year @ Rotman

Some of you may know that it was Chinese New Year this weekend. Along with Valentine’s Day and the Opening of the Olympics in Vancouver, it’s been a very auspicious weekend.

Just as a bit of a surprise treat, I’ve left one red pocket at each seat in our class room. Chinese associate red with prosperity (My friend, Jiang Zhang, was showing me his trading window and the board was all red. Apparently, in the Chinese Stock Market red means profits and green means losses he tells me).

The Chinese custom for Chinese New Year is for married couples with children to give red packets filled with money to single “children” who greet them with “Gong Xi Fa Chai” (Mandarin for “Congratulations and be prosperous”). Unfortunately, because I can’t actually afford it, I’ve decided to give everyone candy instead of money.

I hope my classmates enjoy this little treat to pick them up after the long weekend returning to school!