There are chickens everywhere in Beijing – stuffed toys and posters, big mall displays, even a Trump-themed chicken! In case you haven’t heard, 2017 is the year of the chicken in the Chinese culture. They use a lunar calendar, so the year doesn’t official start until January 28th.
It is oddly comforting that all the Christmas decorations have been changed to New Year decorations. I think because all the Christmas stuff was Santa only – no Christ; and because Christmas seems like a western holiday – even though it is celebrated all over the world.
We had a busy fall speaking to teachers all over China and moving into a new apartment, then Kaia joined us for her winter break. We are adapting, but still have a long way to go to be comfortable using Chinese… It is difficult to just get up the courage sometimes to try to speak and understand. Hopefully this coming year we won’t be… chicken!
ChinaMoos 