AWESOME DAY!

Today there was a lion dance in the marketplace downstairs of my house (this being the last day of the New Year). So my mom and I made time to watch it, since we liked last year's performance.

Last year they did this awesome 'centipede' with oranges for the body and big red chillis for legs. The lions were supposed to eat the centipede and convert it into luck. According to neighbourhood rumour, that was supposed to clear up the bad luck from the shop selling offerings burning down. (The people in that shop are REALLY nice. They say 'Thank you' even if you buy a newspaper! So awesome. I'm glad that their shop is back to normal now.)

This year they put a pile of oranges, with shen cai (Chinese cabbages) and leeks scattered over them and surrounded by pomelos. This setup is usually used for forming words, so we thought that they were going to just make the words and be done.

It was better than that. They threw oranges into the crowd!

The oranges actually signify luck, and there's a tradition that if you get an orange from the lion's mouth, you'll be extra lucky. You can imagine the crowd that was trying to catch the oranges. I was really lucky, and got pelted with four. I caught two: the one that bounced off my head and the other that hit my arm got away.

The oranges are now in my room. I'm so happy!