From: NWCS Principal
Date: 2/27/2015 8:15 PM

大家好，

非常高興上週六看到大家。許多學生穿著中國服裝看起來喜氣洋洋。

我這整個星期在公司解釋有關中國新年除夕吃魚的來由。我還解釋橘子鮮豔的顏色看上去像金子所以大家在新年家裡都有橘子。

其實這些習俗我都是聽我爸媽，叔叔，阿姨說的。​​我唯一的中國農曆新年的記憶是穿著新衣服和所有的大人給你紅包。

由於我是我家的老大，我都收到最高金額的紅包。我記得我總是召喚我的妹妹和弟弟到我的房間來告訴我他們紅包裡有多少錢。如果他們有相同或比我多，他們得交出差異的錢。我會告訴他們，某某叔叔很可能給錯了紅包，因為我是老大，我應該得到的最多。

經過幾年我們的爸媽和其他的大人決定取消了紅包。我媽媽最好的朋友也是有4個孩子。我聽見媽媽告訴她：“哎呀，怎麼樣，省麻煩，你不必，我也不必。“  兩個媽媽很開心，他們想出了這個好主意！可憐的是孩子們…尤其是我，我是老大，損失最多。

現在，我自己有孩子，巧合的是，我大部分的朋友也都有兩個孩子..所以我告訴他們，讓我們將其取消…. 當我的雙胞胎聽到我的計劃，我以為他們會昏倒了。我的朋友都是好媽媽，他們不想拿走孩子的樂趣。所以我想我還是得去購買一些紅包。

明天我打算給我班上的學生紅包。每個紅包將有 $1，其中的一個紅包將有$10。讓我們看看明天誰是幸運小朋友！

不要忘記你仍然有機會購買抽獎券。有好多獎品。祝大家好運。

星期六見！學校早上九點開始，請大家準時到!

Hello Everyone,

I hope everyone is surviving the below zero temperatures.  The good news is that it should be above freezing next week.  Spring is just around the corner!

It was great to see everyone last week.  Many students were wearing their Chinese outfits which made the school very festive.  I don’t know about you, but I have been explaining the Chinese New Year all week.  I actually explained to my class last week the reason one of the main dishes for Chinese New Year’s Eve is fish.  Fish is

ㄩˊ(yu2), and it is the same pronunciation as the word “left over”.  So eating fish on New Year’s Eve symbolizes that you have left over or a surplus (of money) for the year.  Since I do not cook, I bring oranges to friends’ houses.  Orange sounds similar to “wealth” and its bright color looks like gold so it is a popular item during the New Year Celebration.

All these customs I learned from my parents, aunts and uncles.  My fondest memories of Chinese New Year are wearing new outfits and all the adults giving you red envelopes. Since I am the oldest of four siblings, I usually received the most in the red envelops.  I remembered vividly that I always summoned my younger sisters and brother to my room to show me how much they were given in their red envelopes.  If they had the same or more than me, I would make them hand over the difference.  I would tell them, uncle so and so probably gave us the wrong envelopes. Since I am the oldest, I should get the most.  LOL

After several years our parents and other adults decided to just cancel the red envelopes.  I heard my mom saying to her best friend who also had 4 kids, “aiya… too much trouble getting envelopes and doing all these exchanges.  How about you don’t have to, and I won’t either.”  The two moms were so happy they came up with this genius idea!  I remembered having a fit because the ones who suffered were the kids … especially me, the oldest one.

Now that I have my own family, I no longer get red envelopes.  Instead, it is my turn to give back to my parents and others’ children.  Coincidentally, most of my close friends all have 2 kids … so I told them let’s cancel them … boy oh boy, I thought my twins saw a ghost when they heard my plan.  Of course, my friends are softy moms so they did not want to take away the fun from the kids.  I guess I still have to go get some red envelopes.

Anyway, tomorrow I am going to give my class red envelopes.  Each envelope will have $1 in it except one, it will have $10.  Let’s see who the lucky winner is tomorrow!

Speaking of winners, you still have a chance to buy raffle tickets.  For those who don’t remember what the prizes are, they are a surface pro, miscellaneous gift cards, and three $1,000 gift cards to Saks!  It is your last chance to purchase your raffle tickets.  Please come see Francine and buy your tickets!  Hey, you never know!

See you tomorrow!  Classes start at 9am sharp.  Please be on time.

——————————————————-
李宜蓉 Eileen Y. Lee
北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2015
——————————————————-
GO NWCS!!!!  Visit www.nwcsny.org
or email LearnChinese@nwcsny.org