For those of you not in the know, this week is Chinese New Year! Woo hoo! And on top of that, this year happens to be the year of the Tiger, which is my astrological sign in the Chinese zodiac.
Seeing that everyone in my lab is Chinese in some way (aside from Sante, but he's actually taking Chinese language classes!) I made it a point on Monday to ask Junpeng what the traditional greeting/saying is in Mandarin for the holiday. After a few botched attempts I eventually got a passable pronunciation of "Xin nian hao!" down, and proceeded to wish everyone in the lab a happy new year. This was met with surprised laughs and appreciation from all around, and I felt myself transported back to Japan when I spent a semester abroad as an undergrad (here's a link to my blog about my Japan adventures). I've also decided that if I decide to join Jian's lab, I was going to learn some basic mandarin phrases.
Today, Jenny and the rest of Una's lab was hosting a Chinese New Year get-together around lunch time, and invited a bunch of the neighboring labs. It was fun and nice to catch up again with everyone in the lab again. The food was, of course delicious, and it always feels nice eating with chopsticks and staying in practice (yes, I am a chopstick snob, ha ha).
May the Year of the Tiger bring me lots of luck this year, especially with my thesis lab decision in a month or so!
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