Happy Lunar New Year!

Ah, it feels good not to be writing about Amy Chua. Happy Year of the Rabbit! …or if you’re Vietnamese, Year of the Cat!

Each year I send a nengajō to my high school Japanese teacher (originally it was an assignment, now it’s just for fun). This year I branched out and made copies for a few Japanese-speaking friends as well…including one who actually lives in Japan! (It got there late, but it still got there!) This is what they looked like.

If you didn’t get one, it’s not because I don’t love you; it’s because I draw all of them by hand and it gets tedious to copy them out over and over, and besides I suck at drawing. (I only sent four total.) Or because you probably wouldn’t get the Japanese culture reference. Maybe I’ll do more next year.

If you see me tomorrow, you may ask me to wish you happy new year in Mandarin, Vietnamese, or Japanese (or English…or Spanish). Even though the last one (three) use a solar calendar. *grin*