恭喜发财！ Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Year of the Tiger!
I know, it's already a week after Feb 14th (the 1st day of Chinese New Year). Am I still celebrating? Yes! I am actually in Beijing at the moment, and I can tell you the people here have not stopped celebrating yet! They are still plenty of fireworks EVERYWHERE every night, for hours. As I sit here typing, the fireworks have been going at it for at least 3 hours!
Yes, we should celebrate and we should treasure the ones we love and where we are. In 2009, the world economy was down. Some schools that we worked with had to close their programs. Others had to make do of what they have. Coupled with natural disasters in some parts of the world, it was, to say the least, somewhat of a tough year for everyone. But, we are all here!
Yesterday, I had a conversation with an old gentleman in Beijing. He told that he is so thankful about what he has. During the cultural revolution, only once a year, they could have peanuts and watermelon seeds as their indulgence. That was not too long ago. Look at where we are. There is much to celebrate!
I want to point you to free festival stories on our website. http://www.betterchinese.com/promotion.html
Click on the Free Stories to enjoy the 4 new stories. A Chinese rap about how to greet each other during the Chinese new year. A traditional story about how mice found love. A story about the origin of the lantern festival. Lastly, but not least, another Chinese rap about lantern festivals with colorful drawings of various lanterns. Just click and see. Registration is not required.
Also, you can take advantage of our free shipping until March 31st, 2010.
I look forward to conversing with many of you in 2010, and I feel lucky to be working with you and having you reading my post.
Peace. Joy. Love.
-James
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