Is this a foreign land?

Went to China (town) last night.  The sun hadn't yet set but already it didn't take long to know that there was something different. The street light posts were all decorated with red lanterns, symbols of the Chinese New Year celebrations that have been going on for the past couple of days.

All around the streets, there are vendors offering their wares: vegetables and fruit at unbelievably affordable prices, and restaurants galore, each beckoning with the possibility of a sumptuous meal, and not for all the coin in one's pocket either.

At the doorway to the restaurant is a small bowl filled with fruit of varying kinds: an offering in thanksgiving for prosperity and a sign to the visitors that there are good times ahead.

Newcomers, friends and even strangers greet each other with the familiar greeting :恭賀新禧 (which is the traditional Chinese script for the greeting gōng hè xīn xǐ (Happy New Year).

Westerners could learn a thing or two from the Chinese and their International neighbours about how to celebrate the Spring Festival.  They often take at least one week, if not two to mark this annual celebration.  Feasts with family and friends abound, visits to honour the ancestors are common, and in general there is a celebratory tone as all else in life often comes to a standstill (even for just a day or two) while this reverie takes place.