Happy Chinese New Year - Year of the Rat

Happy Chinese New Year!!!!
This is the year of the rat...if you were born in the following times, you are a rat:

• 5 February 1924 - 24 January 1925: Wood Rat
• 24 January 1936 - 10 February 1937: Fire Rat
• 10 February 1948 - 28 January 1949: Earth Rat
• 28 January 1960 - 14 February 1961: Metal Rat
• 16 February 1972 - 2 February 1973: Water Rat
• 2 February 1984 - 19 February 1985: Wood Rat
• 19 February 1996 - 7 February 1997: Fire Rat
• 7 February 2008 - 25 January 2009: Earth Rat

If you are a rat, you have the following characteristics:

Being the first sign of the Chinese zodiacs, rats are leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking. Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. Intelligent and cunning at the same time, rats are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power. They are energetic and versatile and can usually find their way around obstacles, and adapt to various environments easily. A rat's natural charm and sharp demeanor make it an appealing friend for almost anyone, but rats are usually highly exclusive and selective when choosing friends and so often have only a few very close friends whom they trust.

Behind the smiles and charm, rats can be terribly obstinate and controlling, insisting on having things their way no matter what the cost. These people tend to have immense control of their emotions, which they may use as a tool to manipulate and exploit others, both emotionally and mentally. Rats are masters of mind games and can be very dangerous, calculative and downright cruel if the need arises. Quick-tempered and aggressive, they will not think twice about exacting revenge on those that hurt them in any way. Rats need to learn to relax sometimes, as they can be quite obsessed with detail, intolerant and strict, demanding order, obedience, and perfection.

To learn more about the Rats, you can check out Wikipedia...they're not all like the sewer rats you expect to find in the dregs of NYC.

From my personal experience, growing up in a Chinese family, Chinese New Year meant lots of sweets, the color red and most importantly, the lucky, red envelopes. In the northern part of China, they celebrate the New Year with dumplings - friends gather to laugh and talk...all make and cook dumplings to eat. (I do love dumplings - but when I make it, it's usually a one woman show...I make it from scratch, wrap them up and freeze them for future use...but I digress. ) Back to the lucky, red envelope...when I was younger and on the Parental Scholarship fund, my parents would gift me with a red envelope every year. Some years they would have it ready for me, other years (more specifically as they got older) they might have forgotten to buy the envelopes - but always the prepared one, I would have a red envelope stored away for these types of situations where I could give it to them, have them fill it and they would just hand it back to me like they never forgot to buy the envelopes. If I played my cards right (and this might have happened only two-three times), I could give an envelope to my mother to fill and then later empty it and hand it to my father to fill....these were jackpot situations! They soon caught onto my game and we were back down to one envelope per child soon after.

Oh - did I forget to mention what it was filled with? Well, if you got a generic red envelope from Chinese School or a family friend, it would be filled with a McDonald's coupon for a free sundae, two-month old chocolate, gold coin(s) from the Hanukkah holidays, or a dollar. If you got a red envelope from my parents, it was usually filled with $50-100 (depending on how the economy was that year). I have not received a red envelope from my parents in a couple of years....they have been gifting their two grandsons with red envelopes and now they get to enjoy what I had the pleasure of enjoying for 18+ years.

I just called my parents to wish them a Happy Chinese New Year. My Dad asked if I wanted a red envelope....I said, 'Sure!' I totally wasn't expecting them to ask but I surely wasn't going to turn it down. They tried to pull one over on me a few years ago where they said when the child reaches a certain age, they should be giving the parents red envelopes...pffff....whatever. Don't know if I'll actually see a red envelope this year - maybe I should mail one over to them - see if it sparks any memories.