Word of the day 3.

Dear friends,

Sorry for not posting the previous Word of The Day.(CNY!)
The word of the day is: acclaim
meaning: verb(used with objects)

1.	to welcome or salute with shouts or sounds of joy and approval; applaud: to acclaim the conquering heroes.

2. to announce or proclaim with enthusiastic approval: to acclaim the new king. Cleon Wong 1A4 (07)

Traditions and customs of Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Today is the eve of the eve of Chinese New Year! Haha. I am sure that all of you are excited about it. I am going to tell you about the traditions and customs of this important festival.

CNY this year will fall on the 26th of January. This year's animal sign is the ox (cow). CNY is the most important festival amongst all Chinese, there are many traditions associated with the Spring Festival.

The day that CNY falls on in future

2009	01/26/2009		Ox
2010	02/14/2010		Tiger
2011	02/03/2011		Rabbit
2012	01/23/2012		Dragon

The animal signs running in order
1. Rat
2. Ox
3. Tiger
4. Rabbit
5. Dragon
6. Snake
7. Horse
8. Sheep
9. Monkey
10. Roster
11. Dog
12. Pig (me)

Finding your animal sign

From 1920 - 1950:

02/17/1950	02/05/1951	Tiger
02/06/1951	01/26/1952	Rabbit
01/27/1952	02/13/1953	Dragon
02/14/1953	02/02/1954	Snake
02/03/1954	01/23/1955	Horse
01/24/1955	02/11/1956	Goat
02/12/1956	01/30/1957	Monkey
01/31/1957	02/17/1958	Rooster
02/18/1958	02/07/1959	Dog
02/08/1959	01/27/1960	Pig
01/28/1960	02/14/1961	Rat
02/15/1961	02/04/1962	Ox
02/05/1962	01/24/1963	Tiger
01/25/1963	02/12/1964	Rabbit
02/13/1964	02/01/1965	Dragon
02/02/1965	01/20/1966	Snake
01/21/1966	02/08/1967	Horse
02/09/1967	01/29/1968	Goat
01/30/1968	02/16/1969	Monkey
02/17/1969	02/05/1970	Rooster
02/06/1970	01/26/1971	Dog
01/27/1971	02/14/1972	Pig
02/15/1972	02/02/1973	Rat
02/03/1973	01/22/1974	Ox
01/23/1974	02/10/1975	Tiger
02/11/1975	01/30/1976	Rabbit
01/31/1976	02/17/1977	Dragon
02/18/1977	02/06/1978	Snake
02/07/1978	01/27/1979	Horse
01/28/1979	02/15/1980	Goat
02/16/1980	02/04/1981	Monkey
02/05/1981	01/24/1982	Rooster
01/25/1982	02/12/1983	Dog
02/13/1983	02/01/1984	Pig
02/02/1984	02/19/1985	Rat
02/20/1985	02/08/1986	Ox
02/09/1986	01/28/1987	Tiger
01/29/1987	02/16/1988	Rabbit
02/17/1988	02/05/1989	Dragon
02/06/1989	01/26/1990	Snake
01/27/1990	02/14/1991	Horse
02/15/1991	02/03/1992	Goat
02/04/1992	01/22/1993	Monkey
01/23/1993	02/09/1994	Rooster
02/10/1994	01/30/1995	Dog
01/31/1995	02/18/1996	Pig
02/19/1996	02/06/1997	Rat

Things Chinese Do

Here is a list of things or traditions Chinese may do around Chinese New Year.

1. Preparation
Usually the preparation starts a month before the new year. The preparation includes thoroughly cleaning and decorating the house, buying new clothes, preparing enough food for at least two weeks. The decorations are highly symbolic with a lot of lucky words, printed paintings and red colors everywhere. Kids are busy in shopping for different kinds of firecrackers. Everyone gets a haircut before the new year. So everything and everyone looks new and fresh on the new year.

2. New Year' Eve
The New Year's Eve is the time for families. The New Year Eve's dinner is the biggest dinner of the year, much like Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner is full of symbolic meaning, such as Chinese dumplings implying wealth since they have the shape of ancient Chinese gold or silver ingots. Everyone, even kids, drinks a little Jiu (usually hard liquor), which symbolizes longevity since Jiu has the same pronunciation as longevity in Chinese. Then the family chats while watching national TV shows or listening to radio together until the coming of the new year. In China, the national TV shows have been prepared for a few months by a group of famous entertainers.

3. Firecrackers
Firecrackers are set off as soon as the new year arrives. You can hear or see firecrackers everywhere and this usually lasts for a few hours. Some people will continue to play firecrackers occasionally through out the first half of the first month. Traditionally fireworks are the sign of getting rid of the old and welcoming the new. Fireworks are now banned in China, so this tradition is history.

4. Red Packets
Giving Hongbao or red packets during Chinese new year is another tradition. A Red packet is simply a red envelope with money in it, which symbolizes luck and wealth. Red packets are typically handed out to younger generation by their parents, grand parents, relatives, and even close neighbors and friends.

5. New Year Greetings
Chinese New Year is also the time for socializing. People usually wear new clothes and go out to visit and greet their relatives and friends, so the streets are filled with a lot of cheerful people. The greetings and visitings can go on for a few days.

6. Dragon and Lion Dancing
Dragon and Lion dancing is another tradition of Chinese New Year.

Cleon Wong (07) 1A4

Chinese New Year

Hi people,

Chinese New Year is just round the corner (I really mean round the corner). Are you people excited? I bet I am! Chinese New Year is the most important festive of the year(to Chinese).Red packets and mandrin oranges are to be given to the elders by the younger ones. I will be posting up the facts of CNY tomorrow!

Keep in touch!
Cleon Wong (07) 1A4

Word of the day no. 2

Hi again,

The word of the day for today is: corpulent
Meaning: [adj] very fat

Happy Chinese 'Niu' Year!!!
Cleon Wong (07) 1A4

Comments

Fellow classmates,
Please comment on my posts .

Thank you very much
Cleon Wong (07) 1A4

Fun and mini games.

Dear classmates,

You will notice that there are mini-games posted in my blog. It is for you play for a little while to relax. Please do not abuse them and I will post more varieties.

Remember not to abuse the games.
Cleon Wong (07) 1A4

Word of the day.

Hi people of 1A4(teachers too!),

I will be posting the word of the day everyday. Please tell me if you guys want it with the meaning or without.

For today, the word of the day is: qualitative.
Meaning: adj of or about quality
Eg: a qualitative judgment.




P.S. There will be a left-hand side column that will list out all the word of the day that has been posted.
There is a hangman game too! you can click on the link 'learn the word' in the game to learn it.

Learning will never come to an end.
Cleon Wong (07) 1A4

Diary: The Village by the Sea (thoughts and feelings of Lila while ofering prayers)

This is what I think and assume what Lila is thinking about while she is offering her prayers:

Dear Diary,
Today morning was a peaceful morning. Surprisingly, I was exceptionally early and was the first one who went out to the beach. I went there with a bucket of bright - coloured flowers. When I came to a cluster of three rocks, I spotted a sacred rock(a kind of temple in the sea) and offered my prayers and said a greeting to God.
Soon, more women came down and offered flowers at the sacred rock. Some did what I did and just simply said a greeting to God. Some of them said a little prayer for the safety of the fishermen(their husbands) at sea.
Thinking about fishermen, I thought of my lousy father, who always came home drunk. He often gambled and was in a huge dept. He sold his boat to pay his dept, which made my Mum worried. That resulted in Mother falling sick. I am really angry with my father.

Signing off,
Lila.

Cleon Wong (07) 1A4

Timing.

Pleas do not trust the time stated when I posted my blog. It is inaccurate.

My pet plant.

Dear 1A4,

As you can see on the left-hand side of the screen, there lays my plant (named F.growth) growing whenever I visit my blog. This will remind me of the time I have been spending on the computer. F.growth and I suggest that you guys should have it too (to manage time wisely)!

From,
Cleon Wong (07) 1A4

A thing for you guys to ponder about...

If the universe is everything and yet the scientist said that it is expending, then what is it expanding into?

Happy thinking!

CNN news update and Picasso's art of the day.

Fellow friends and teachers,
Please do remember to view and read the "CNN news updates" (updated everyday) and "Picasso's Art of The Day" located at the bottom of my blog. Kindly try not to forget about them.

Enjoy the rest of your day!
Cleon Wong (07) 1A4

if i were a member of the Society of Prevention of Cruelty To Animals.

If I were a member of the Society of Prevention of Cruelty To Animals, I would like to raise awareness of the cruelty of whaling in Japan, this is the speech that I prepared to be made at a public forum on the cruelty of the fishing industry to whales in Japan.

"Japan is a country which consumes great amounts of seafood. The fishing industry hunts for whales mainly because of their oils. It is in fact extremely cruel to hunt and kill whales. Who knows? At the rate the whales are breeding, it is predicted that they will soon become extinct mammals. There must be an alternative to finding oil to satisfy human cravings and needs rather than to fish for whales."

'FISH ARE FRIENDS, NOT FOOD!' this saying, which I think is true and deffinitely agreeable, is adapted from a cartoon movie - Finding Nemo.

Cleon (07) 1A4

All about me (not all actually.) ;)

Hi again 1A4,
Basically, as you all know, i am a member of the Hwa Chong family and of course the brothers of 1A4.
I love art and i usually draw during my free time be it in school, at home or even at shopping malls! I am happy to tell you that I went to take the 2nd art test and am officially in AEP (art elective programme)!
That is all for now and i will update later on.
Enjoy your weekend!
Cleon (07) 1A4

my first and very important blog of the year!

hi friends and teachers of 1A4,
this is the first post in the blog.
i will continue to update on this blog and make it interesting throughout 2009.
have fun reading!(please comment)
Cleon (07) 1A4