The beginning of Chinese New Year

It is hard to believe the first month of 2010 is coming to an end. Things have been very busy and a little crazy around here. I have spent the month getting used to my new routine of working at both Cheshire and Care Haven. Both jobs keep me plenty busy and I love it. The residents are great and I am learning about their abilities more and more each day. They keep me on my toes. Care Haven has been a lot of fun as the kids and I are establishing more of a weekly schedule and are starting to dive into multiplication!!! (I feel like I am re-learning many things before I teach it!) At the end of every week we are taking a half hour to play a game or do a fun relaxing activity. This week we experimented with some fake snow. My Godmother was very kind and sent me some snow powder to celebrate Christmas and it was fun. The kids had a hard time believing that I come from a place that has snow in abundance and they couldn't believe that snow is actually made of water/ice. It was fun to play with them and our fake snow. Here are a few pics to help capture the fun: (Edward wearing some 'snow' on his face, Idrus 'eating' the snow, Nelwe and Edward kept adding water then mixing it, Idrus with the final result)

Thank you Dena for providing us with this fun adventure! They loved it and were very excited to learn the powder can be reused.

There has been a lot of talk about the Chinese New coming up and now it is fully starting to show around the KK area. Everywhere I go there are red decorations and everyone I talk with asks what I will be doing for the new year! It is fun to watch as this holiday quickly approaches and learn about all the different traditions that go along with it. The first tradition I was told about was the red packets or Hongbao. If you are single the married couples you know will give you one of these red packets and inside there will be money. In this case it really does pay to be single! The second tradition I learned is that during this holiday you will not starve. During this fifteen day festival there will be great feasts, dancing, and wishing one another good prosperity! Last night I attended my first Chinese New Year celebration with my roommate at Cheshire Home. The Cheshire staff organized a party for the residents and their families. It was such a fun time full of music (karaoke), games, dancing, and food! I loved being with the residents to meet their families. There were also a lot of past residents there along with members of the Young Voices group! I don't think I've had that much fun in Malaysia yet!!! Here are just some pictures to help explain the evening: In order: Kelinus grilling the fish (yup, eyes and all!), The grilling of the chicken (or maybe just scorching it), Faris the DJ, the traditional Chinese Lion dance.

I will post more pictures of this fun event along with a short video of the Lion dance!