LOVE NOTE #181: Happy Tet 2013 - Year of the Snake!

1st gen. smart phone camera - pardon the graininess!  Can't wait to upgrade and use my new smart phone for photos:)

Open!  Open! Open!

It is time to say goodbye to the Year of the Dragon and welcome in Year of the Snake!  Every year around this time I get excited because my Mom tells me my Dad will be sending me a care package full of goodies.  Potato gets really excited too because one of his favorite things to eat is Banh Chuong...just like me!

Alongside these goodies, there is a host of superstitious things my parents do.  I can't remember them all, but I do remember no sweeping is allowed.  It is feared that all the good luck will be swept away for the year.  Also, they always walk into the front door before any guests are allowed to do so.  I can't remember why.  I like to tell myself superstitions are silly.

I'd also like to say that I'm not a superstitious person, but all my Asian friends have insisted that I take heed.  One thing I learned was that Chinese are really against anything with the number 4.  I'm don't recall every hearing about this one in the Vietnamese handbook of superstitions.  I remember a Chinese girl who wouldn't move into any apartment unit that had a number 4 in the address because it was considered bad luck.  I guess in Chinese the number 4 is associated with death.  My fiance and I were looking for homes around that time.  I was adamant about not having any home with an address that contained a 4 in it.  I don't know why he willingly obliged to my request.  I don't know why I bought into it either.  It didn't matter if the home was located in a good neighborhood on a quiet cul de sac.  The number 4 illogically negated all the positives of the what could have been that perfect slice of American pie.  Whatever I learned working in real estate didn't matter.  I need to shake these superstitions and not let them influence my decisions!  After all, one of the greatest inventions, the automobile, has four wheels.  Arguably the best import from England, The Beatles, is also known as the Fab Four.  The list goes on and on.

Tet care packages are the best!

At any rate, Potato was rushing me to open up the care package.  He loves boxes, bags... he has grown to learn that things in them can be delicious.  What a smart little boy!  He even loves suitcases - because he knows it's travel time.  It's heartbreaking though, because sometimes he knows it means that he can't always go.  Then he will climb inside my suitcase and not move - no matter how I try to pick him up.  He'll position all his paws and body against the walls of the suitcase so it is impossible for me to take him out.  Sometimes he will growl if i try to pick him up.  If it's not my suitcase, then he will climb into my Vera Bradley large duffle bag.  He will just sit in there waiting patiently until he falls asleep.

We are traveling to Orange County (CA) in about a week.  I'm sure he will be so excited because he will get to go too!  I just really hope he doesn't make a big deal at the airport like the last time.  He was crying and barking in the terminal.  But he was a good boy once we boarded.  I believe slept most of the time as I didn't hear a peep out of him.

Potato examining the goods!  Banh chuong is his fav!

I digress... but yes, thanks to my parents who sent ginger candy (compliments of my Auntie), banh chuong, peanut and sesame candy (My Mom loves making these homemade candies - and they are so good... I just wish she sent me more!), my red li xi bag (that my other Auntie included!), and some dragon fruit. So far Year of the Snake has proven to be quite yummy!

Maybe we will tie the knot at the end of this year too!  Just maybe!  Although it's a widow year.  Something with alignment of celestial bodies.  It's not advisable to get married this year according to the Chinese calender because this means that the husband will die early leaving the wife a widow.  I'm still unclear how much overlap the Vietnamese and Chinese beliefs overlap.  I'm hoping this superstition didn't cross the southeast border of China! If we wait and cross into 2014... well then there is a 4 in that year.  Then 2015 is another widow year... I need to stop Google-ing auspicious wedding dates and just start planning a wedding instead!


 Happy Tet everyone!

 
Xoxoxoxo,

Marikym & Potato