Red Envelopes

Today I went to San Francisco Chinatown with my mom for the Chinese New Year street fair. We had a good time walking through the street fair and shopping. Here is a video I made for last year's street fair, which was cunningly similar to this year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee3B6R5s6T0

We bought a whole bunch of food and went home.

My mom asked me to help fill the red envelopes with money. These red envelopes are to be given to kids for good luck. This is a traditional Chinese custom for Chinese New Year. This is the first time I ever helped my mom with red envelopes and my second year to be giving out red envelopes. To tell the truth, I actually like the feeling, even though I had to give away some money. In our tradition, people who are married give red envelopes, aka lucky money, to kids and unmarried youth. In return, the kids would tell you lucky Chinese phrases, which could be translated to,

"Happy New Year,"
"I wish you will make a lot of money this year,"
"I wish you very best healthy and longevity."
...

It is a sign of separation of generations. Once you are married, you are an adult and independent.