Gung hay fat choy

For those in the know, the above is Cantonese, and not Mandarin, the first language of my Taiwanese students. Nevertheless, today we celebrated Chinese New Year, or in Korea, the Lunar New Year. 2006 is the Year of the Dog. I was born in a Year of the Horse, and Paul was born in the Year of the Pig. The phrases, "Were you born in a barn?" or "You're room is a pigsty," come to mind. I digress.

On the last Friday of each month, we have a special lunch in my classroom to celebrate the students' birthdays that fall during in that month. Today's was a combination celebration, as all my students traditionally celebrate the lunar new year.

Red and gold paper lanterns hang from the ceiling in my classroom, and a red decoration hangs down onto my whiteboard. Both windows on the doors are covered in Chinese paper cutouts. It is all very festive.

I spent my two hour prep block today making place cards, and determining who should sit where. We invited our 16 visiting Korean students, 6 of whom have been sitting in on my lower level class. I partnered those six with students from that class, then arranged the students from my other two classes and spread out the remaining visiting students and teachers. By the time I was finished, and some of the boys had been requisitioned to move furniture around, we had seating for 52 people.

The mezzanine of the library, to which I have access through a secret door in my classroom, became the buffet. The tables were heaped with Chinese food.

As the students came in, we sent them through the buffet line before directing them to their seats. My students always grumble and gripe about not being able to sit with their friends, and then have an enjoyable time, in spite of themselves, meeting new friends. We asked them to find out two things about someone at their table they had not met before. As they introduced their new friends, there was a great deal of laughter as names were mispronounced, or words were misunderstood.

The three students who celebrated birthdays in January came to the front of the room where they received the traditional cards, barely legible with cartoons scrawled around good wishes, signed by every student in the ESL program. Each one also received a CD as a gift. Our co-ordinator keeps track of which students have received which CD's over the years, so there are no repeats. We sang a communal 'Happy Birthday,' then ate chocolate birthday cake and fortune cookies.

Incidentally, fortune cookies were invented in the United States. You can't get them in Asia.

After the Birthday tradition, we moved on to the New Year tradition in which the elders give red envelopes of money to the young people. One of the Taiwanese students demonstrated the bow she would need to do to respectfully receive her gift. It was a low bow, from the waist, head bowed and arms outstretched. The one of the Korean boys demonstrated his bow. He kneeled on the floor and bowed forward with his head down and arms stretched out in front of him, almost fully prostrate. Each student, visitors too, received an envelope with a toonie, and a few lucky students received two toonies.

Thankfully, there is only one class block after lunch. Students full of good food and winding down from an hour of fun have a tough time focusing.

I love our Friday lunches! For those of you in the Asian community, "Gung hay fat choy!"