Still short of sleep from our weekend extravaganza the Pioneering Accountant and I sat up late last night to watch Barack H. Obama inaugurated as 44th President of the United States of America. I have rarely taken more than a last minute interest in the race for the White House which seems to alternate its Republican and Democratic occupants with remarkable consistency. Yet who could have failed to be inspired by the eloquence, the style, the charisma and the passion of a young African-American Senator from Illinois who brought the race for the White House alive the moment he announced his candidacy?
As Obama took his oath and made a sober speech I found myself believing, like so many others, that this man can bring change to the US and, in its wake, change to the whole world. No pressure then, Mr President.
I hadn't waited up so late to watch a politician on the box since Tony Blair and New Labour were swept to power in May 1997. And what a disappointment they turned out to be. So one can only hope that President Obama has more up his sleeve than the spin and rhetoric that have finally spun us into probably the worst recession since the end of WW2, rocketing national debt and a guarantee to bail out Britain's banks that threatens to eclipse the entire economy. Good luck Mr Obama, may things on your side of the pond go better than on ours.
As Obama took his oath and made a sober speech I found myself believing, like so many others, that this man can bring change to the US and, in its wake, change to the whole world. No pressure then, Mr President.
I hadn't waited up so late to watch a politician on the box since Tony Blair and New Labour were swept to power in May 1997. And what a disappointment they turned out to be. So one can only hope that President Obama has more up his sleeve than the spin and rhetoric that have finally spun us into probably the worst recession since the end of WW2, rocketing national debt and a guarantee to bail out Britain's banks that threatens to eclipse the entire economy. Good luck Mr Obama, may things on your side of the pond go better than on ours.
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I have been up to the school to confer with staff on our ten year old's progress. I think he's turned a corner said his teacher. Yes, but have you? I stopped myself from saying.
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Chinese New Year is approaching and all Christmas decorations have morphed seamlessly into New Year decorations. Red lanterns hang in the garage and the gates and walls are adorned with red and gold paper decorations marked with messages of good fortune. The poinsettia have been replaced by potted yellow and red chrysanthemums and cylindrical mandarin bushes loaded with fruit and decorated with red 'pockets' now stand outside the entrances. In ox shaped pots clusters of smooth Chinese lemons, symbols of good fortune, are on sale. The country is gearing up for a big holiday and on January 26th we will welcome in the Year of the Ox.
Anxious to avoid a faux pas I went to my neighbour for hints and tips. At Chinese New Year and for ten days thereafter, the onus is on anyone with employer status to hand out cash-filled red pockets to everyone who works for you in some capacity. For me this means the amahs, the porters, the gardener, the repair man and everyone down the line from my hairdresser and the boy at the backwash, the dry cleaner who collects our stuff and the pest control men who keep us cockroach free. It can also include waiters and kitchen staff in favourite restaurants if one is going there any time over New Year. For the Pioneering Accountant it includes just about everyone in the office who is either junior to him or unmarried right down to the tea-lady and the cleaners. He has heard said that queues form outside offices when word goes around that one of the partners is giving out red pockets.
The money that goes into the red pockets must be brand new notes representing new fortune for the New Year . The newness of the note is seemingly more important than the actual amount though I can't quite believe the gardener would be happier to get 10 new Hong Kong dollars than 100 old ones. If one doesn't see ones hairdresser, dry cleaner, pest control people etc etc then it's tough luck and they miss out. My husband believes there will be a sudden rush of calls from suppliers in the ten days after New Year 'just checking' we have all we need. I have visions of whole families turning out the lights and hiding behind the sofa when they hear the doorbell ring for fear of being discovered without enough new notes. We are going away. Kung Hei Fat Choi!
Anxious to avoid a faux pas I went to my neighbour for hints and tips. At Chinese New Year and for ten days thereafter, the onus is on anyone with employer status to hand out cash-filled red pockets to everyone who works for you in some capacity. For me this means the amahs, the porters, the gardener, the repair man and everyone down the line from my hairdresser and the boy at the backwash, the dry cleaner who collects our stuff and the pest control men who keep us cockroach free. It can also include waiters and kitchen staff in favourite restaurants if one is going there any time over New Year. For the Pioneering Accountant it includes just about everyone in the office who is either junior to him or unmarried right down to the tea-lady and the cleaners. He has heard said that queues form outside offices when word goes around that one of the partners is giving out red pockets.
The money that goes into the red pockets must be brand new notes representing new fortune for the New Year . The newness of the note is seemingly more important than the actual amount though I can't quite believe the gardener would be happier to get 10 new Hong Kong dollars than 100 old ones. If one doesn't see ones hairdresser, dry cleaner, pest control people etc etc then it's tough luck and they miss out. My husband believes there will be a sudden rush of calls from suppliers in the ten days after New Year 'just checking' we have all we need. I have visions of whole families turning out the lights and hiding behind the sofa when they hear the doorbell ring for fear of being discovered without enough new notes. We are going away. Kung Hei Fat Choi!
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I am touched and rather surprised to find I have been given a blogging award by my cyberspace alter-ego Nappy Valley Girl. I was trying to remember the last time I received an award and I can think only of a very dull anthology of German poetry I was given as second prize in a German public speaking contest when I was 16 so this is an honour indeed and gives me much encouragement to carry on with this blogging malarkey. I am required to print the accompanying text and to pass on the award which I do, not to eight fellow bloggers as I don't know that many but to my first true cyberspace friends at Not Wrong Just Different and Paradise Lost In Translation.
"Blogs who receive this award are "exceedingly charming," says its authors. This award is a fine one because it focuses not on the glory and fanfare of blogging, but in the PROXIMITY to one another through this online-world. This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY--nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this clever-written text into the body of their award."
5 comments:
You're too too kind. An award in Spanish - that's something I'd never have anticipated for myself.
I love the friendship of blogging. I think there is something very new, yet very old, about the way bloggers meet, get to know and support each other. Proximity, yet we're spread over continents. Amazing really.
Thank you, I'm delighted. Only my second ever! And very useful to have the text explanantion of the award as my year's Spanish GCSE was not sufficient to translate it fully!
blogging has been my lifeline & it's always lovely to strike up new bloggy friendships.
Thank you again:-)
MD, you've gone all touchy=feely in your old age!
Glad you liked the award - and Kung Hei Fat Choy to you!
Hi WIHK. Thnx for yr msg, muchappreciated.
I've photo tagged you over at 'my place' as they say. Sorry, I got tagged, and amsupposed topass it on. It squite a fun one though. When I received an award I failed to pass it on to 8, yes 8 others, so thought I'd better do this photo tag thing.
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