Lunar New Year - Day Three

Again, I'm writing my blog entry the morning after.

Yesterday was Third New Day (according to the Mongolian's lunar calendar) and saw us at three more homes. Actually, I visited a fourth home by myself but that had nothing to do with the Lunar New Year's celebrations. We have been asking our Mongolian friends how many homes they have visited. Most of them have visited at least ten homes and some more than a dozen in three days. Many have more visitors coming to their home on Third New Day or Fourth New Day.

However, most folks in the city will be back at work today which is the fourth day of the new lunar year. We had to stock up last week on staples because most stores have been closed the last few days. Even the ones that are open often lack such these as bread and eggs because the supply chain is disrupted. One year there was no bread for a week after the start of the new year. I have not checked yet this year.

What happens at a Lunar New Year visit? Well, when you first arrive you spend several minutes taking of coats, hats, gloves, scarves, and various other warm clothing. Then there is a special greeting that you must give to everyone. The younger person holds out his arms to support the older person's arms while the older one moves in to kiss (or more often to sniff) the younger one's cheeks. As you are doing this you ask, "Is your rest well?" There are various other saying and polite questions that can be asked at this time. You only use this greeting once a year the first time that you meet someone after the Lunar New Year. Mongolians even have a unique verb for this greeting: zolgokh. In most homes, the next thing to do is to sample the various items that have been placed on the table. There is usually meat, candy, Mongolian potato salad, and various milk products. The hostess begins to make the meat dumplings called buuz which are the traditional food for this celebration. Most homes also offer the guests some vodka and a traditional blessing is said. The host and guest may also exchange snuff bottles and some more polite questions and words during this time. The rest of the time is spent eating and talking.

The difficulty comes when you visit two homes in a row; and at both places, your hostess wants to feed you a meal. We had that experience last night. I thought I only had one visit scheduled when someone called and scheduled a second one. I think that my family is almost done with our visits. We may have another one tomorrow or Friday. I have one more and maybe two that I will do by myself.

Keep praying for men to be saved.