How’s Your Chinese???

So sorry that I haven’t had a chance to post in a while, but quite frankly haven’t been in the mood at all.  I’ve been through a pretty rough time at work, and I’ve been pretty down about it for the past week.  Soooooo….Wasn’t feeling creative at all and want to only give my readers my best.  I’m pretty sure I’ve said it before, but not going to go into work stuff here cause i want this to be a creative outlet as opposed to vent for my professional frustrations.  So??  How is your Chinese?  Unless you live under a rock, (and I know some places in the States qualify) you should know that today is Chinese New Year.  The Chinese calendar is based on lunar cycles as opposed to the solar calendar we follow in western countries.  Therefore, the date they celebrate can change year to year according to the lunar cycles of the given year.  Bangkok has been decked out in red for the past few weeks leading up to today, and I must admit i find the red lanterns beautiful.  Fireworks cracked and boomed across the city yesterday.  Thailand has a significant Chinese Thai population like other south east Asian countries and these people generally make up the ruling class.  The Chinese Thai are usually the business owners, government officials, movie/television personalities and high society types.   Yesterday morning I passed through what seemed like a constant aromatic haze of incense hovering over elaborate offerings of food to ancestors in front every other shop house on my way to work.  We even had a Chinese Dragon dance troop come to the school the other day to put on a performance for the kids.  More incense drifted through the air across the school accompanied by the rhythm of loud beating drums, performers, and a dragon dancing to give gifts of lucky oranges.  It made for quite an experience in honor of the ever increasing importance of this holiday.  But…How’s your Chinese?  Now i know some of you might be thinking, “Why do i care?”  Well, China is quickly becoming or is already an economic force to be reckoned with in this century.  They are working very hard to sheer up and strengthen their infrastructure to support their booming industry sector.  How does that affect you?  Next time your in Target or Wal-mart, turn over the piece of merchandise your looking at and see where it was made?  Getting the picture?  Furthermore, China is the 4th largest country in the world but more importantly is their population size.  Their are between 1.3 an 1.5 billion Chinese working hard to make their country strong and competitive, giving their country the highest population size on the planet.  Think about that and how that could affect the face of global politics in our lifetime.  Finally, I read an article in one of the Bangkok Newspapers recently about China.  Did you know that Chinese has already been made the official language of organizations such as the World Health Organization, World Bank, UNESCO, and there is a proposal just passed recently to do so with the World Tourism Organization.  My own uncle relatively recently traveled to China to tour factories for his company.  I remember talking to him about how just one visit changed his perspective on things and how so many Americans take the lives they now lead for granted.  So if you don’t think this doesn’t affect you then you might be in for a big surprise in the not so distant future.   So, have an orange for good luck and go out and try some Dim Sum.  In the spirit of prosperity and good fortune I want to wish all my friends and family a very very Happy Chinese New Year.  Until next time….take care!