OT - Happy New Year

oftheherd

oftheherd

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While it is not yet so here in the USA, in the orient, the New Year has begun and is being celebrated. Happy New Year!

The Chinese new year that is. It is the Year of the Dog. So, go out and wish all the dogs you meet a Happy Chinese New Year.

In our house at least, that means special Korean foods in celebration. Anyone else celebrating?
 
Manolo Gozales said:
Hey:)

That's easy for you to say! :D

MaNGo
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It is now, but not the first couple of times I heard it. :D

It is the Korean for Happy New Year, used at both the western and traditional new year. For any who wish to try it on friends or acquaintances, the vowel "e" is pronounced like the English long "a," and the vowel "i" is pronounced like the English long "e." Yeah, I know that sounds counter intuitive. There are many transliterations of Korean into English. That is why the names we commonly see spelled YI, LEE, and RHEE are all the same, again, pronounced like the English long "e."

Edit: Oh, the letter "o" is pronounced like an English long "o" but the "u" is like English "oo."
 
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Happy New Year!

Looking forward to my Tet lunch with my good friend Dao on Monday!

I love Vietnamese food (and she's darn good looking too) ! :D
 
Though Mongolian New Year starts tomorrow (30 Jan):

Sar shiniin mend khurgeye!


.
 
Gung hey fat choy!
I am looking forward to special Chinese dinner tomorrow night. My lovely esposa and I have eaten at the same Chinese restaurant every Sunday for more than 10 years, and each Chinese New Year we are treated to a free dinner there. We and the owners exchange lai-see for each other's children (I've always given lai-see to the owners themselves, since I'm old enough to be their father) and basically celebrate the beautiful and ancient Chinese culture.
Now, if I could just get them to come up with a "Shanghai", or even a Seagull on one of their several trips home each year....
 
copake_ham said:
Happy New Year!

Looking forward to my Tet lunch with my good friend Dao on Monday!

I love Vietnamese food (and she's darn good looking too) ! :D
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I melt before the visage of a beautiful Asian woman. I had a nuclear-fusion gamma ray-intense romance with a Japanese girl for a couple of years, back when they were still referred to as "Oriental"... hmmm. It's a good thing my wife doesn't read this forum.
 
Krasnaya_Zvezda said:
I melt before the visage of a beautiful Asian woman.

...
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Isn't that a coincidence? I do too. My wife. ;)

Vietnamese food is also nice. I spent 4 years in that country. Even war torn, I enjoyed it and the people there. Many wonderful folk, much good food.
 
oftheherd said:
Isn't that a coincidence? I do too. My wife. ;)

Vietnamese food is also nice. I spent 4 years in that country. Even war torn, I enjoyed it and the people there. Many wonderful folk, much good food.
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My friend's father was an ARVN officer and barely escaped after the fall of Saigon.

Fortunately, times have changed and last year he went back to visit family and friends he thought he'd never see again.

He is old now - but is finally finding his personal peace. And this gives great peace to my friend who was but an infant back in 1975.

Happy Tet!
 
It was tough after the North Vietnamese took over from all I have heard from those I talked to. But indeed now it seems different. I coworker has been back several times to visit, as well as others I have talked to. None seem to want to live there again, but are glad to be able to visit family. There are even a few Americans who live there permanently I understand. Good for them. I am glad those who left to flee the communists feel comfortable to go back. I have often wondered about some of the good people I knew there. I know they didn't all get out, or even have a chance to try. Sadly, such is live sometimes.
 
copake_ham said:
My friend's father was an ARVN officer and barely escaped after the fall of Saigon.

Fortunately, times have changed and last year he went back to visit family and friends he thought he'd never see again.

He is old now - but is finally finding his personal peace. And this gives great peace to my friend who was but an infant back in 1975.

Happy Tet!
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Without the diacritical marks, the Vietnamese is Chuc mung nam moi. It is pronounced with something like the "u" like "oo" in too when you say chuc, with a "u" like the "u" in mud for mung, The "a" in nam should be like the "a" in "ah", and the "o" in moi should be something like "u" in "huh?" with the "i" being something like a long "e" in English. Your voice should rise when you say chuc, fall when you say mung, stay level when you say nam, and rise when you say moi. In other words, don't even try it. In Vietnamese, you either say the word correctly, say a different word, or say gibberish. Not only do you have to have the tones correct, there are 12 vowels and they are not used to allowing for foreign accents when trying to understand.

That aside, It is good your friend's father has found peace in being able to go back and visit. Many others have already been able to do so. Some still fear due to their experiences prior to leaving. I am glad for him.

Well, it is now Sunday morning in the USA, so Happy (Chinese) New Year to all!
 
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The year of the Dog, my two are sitting on either side of me right now. Happy New Year!
 
My dogs and I wish everybody a Happy New Year!

I had a friend in college, an incredibly bright (and attractive) Vietnamese girl who also studied philosophy. She had come to the US with her family when she was 16 not speaking one word of English....by the time she was 18, she had won a very hefty scholarship to college, and jumped straight into the most language intensive course of study possible...no accent, and a level of language far higher than our infamous President.

Anyway, her name was Ngoc, and damnit, she tried to teach me how to say her name for TWO years. I'm pretty good at languages; my first language was Russian, then of course English, and then German and bits of other languages. I'm very good with accents, and my German doesn't sound American at all, rather Viennese.

I kid you not, I couldn't even hear the difference. I mean how many different ways can you pronounce "knock!" A few times I apparently said it right, but I didn't know what I did...there just was absolutely no difference for me. I felt a little like a hamster trying to learn mathematics; there's just no way in hell that I would ever get it! She wanted to teach me Vietnamese, but hell, if I couldn't even say her name right, what chances could I possibly have of every speaking like anything other than a Gorilla?
 
Happy New Year Everyone!

Don't forget that Chinese New Year celebration lasts 15 days. Among these days, the first and second days are of course the most important. That is the time when relatives and friends visit each other to celebrate New Year.

The seventh day is called "The Day of Humans", or alternatively referred to as "Everybodies' Birthday". So congradulate yourself---you are one year older.

The 15th day is the time for a lantern festival. In traditional Chinese society, that is the day when single men and women can meet, as single women were not allowed to roam the streets freely. So now this day is also nicknamed "Chinese Valentines Day". That should be an excelent occasion for all you street photographers if you lived in ancient China and had a camera with you!
 
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