It's Party Time!

It's that time of year again, time for beautiful red decorations, dumplings and a whole lot of fun!



The Chinese New Year (also known as Spring Festival) festivities are the biggest celebration in the Chinese calendar, and we always have a big party before the official holiday begins.  The nannies keep working their shifts over the holidays, but the foster home office shuts down for the week (as does almost everything else in China), and people head home to spend time with their families.



A big part of the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations is making, and eating, dumplings together. Called 'jiǎozi' in Mandarin, they are shaped like a gold ingot (the currency used in ancient times), symbolizing luck and fortune.

In the Foster Home, we set up two 'dumpling-making-tables', one in the playroom for the little ones, and another in the preschool for the older kids.  The nannies and other staff love making dumplings with/for them!

Dumplings always taste better when you've 'squidged' them before they're cooked!

Tray upon tray of beautiful jiǎozi, all ready to be boiled and eaten.

Meanwhile, in the dining hall, the foster-parents and their charges are also busy making dumplings...

...and then it's time for the best part: eating them!

Bellies full of dumplings, it's time for the little ones in the Foster Home to take a nap, while the show begins in the dining hall.

Our nannies and office staff are a talented group, and love to perform dances, songs and skits.

The foster families stayed to enjoy the show (but Tim was more interested in watching his foster-mama than the performances).

Some of the children really wanted to be center-stage themselves; here is Hudson joining in one of the nannies' performances, and look out for an adorable video of Elizabeth dancing along in another post coming up soon.

Can you guess what this skit was about?  We didn't have performances at our Christmas party, but enjoyed this just as much for Chinese New Year!

For the finale, a group of our office staff performed a hilarious and well-choreographed dance routine.  Another highlight, which we don't have pictures of, was the slideshow of New Day graduate pictures, sent in by their forever families.  The nannies love seeing how much these fondly-remembered babies have grown.

From our big New Day family to yours, "xīnnián kuàilè" (new year happiness)!