jenny's blog

小年最重要的习俗就是“祭灶”了。
The most important customs of the Minor Spring Festival is ‘Ji Zao’.

神话传说里，生活在灶底的神仙，“灶王爷”，会在小年这一天上天庭汇报人间事项。
According to traditional mythology, ‘Zao Wang Ye’, who is a god living under cooking stoves, will visit the Palace in Heaven and report on affairs on earth on Minor Spring Festival.

所以人们会“祭灶”，给灶王爷献上好吃的，请他在玉帝面前多多美言，保佑来年平安。
Therefore, people will ‘Ji Zao’ and offers delicacies to Zao Wang Ye, so that he can send good words to Emperor Yu in Heaven, who will guarantee prosperity of the next year.

“二十三，糖瓜粘”。农历腊月二十三的今天，中国北方正式迎来“小年”，而南方地区则是明天。
‘Twenty three, tanggua sticky’. 23rd Dec of the Agricultural calendar is the Minor Spring Festival of northern China, while southern China is tomorrow.

老话“官三民四船五”说的就是这一现象。
There is an old saying ‘officials three, civilians four, boats five’, which is used to refer to this difference.

官家农历腊月二十三过小年，寻常百姓二十四，水上人家二十五。
Families with government ties celebrate the Minor Spring Festival on 23rd Dec of the Agricultural calendar, common civilians celebrate on 24th and people living near water celebrate on 25th.

到今天为止，美国政府已关门35天。幸运的是，这个数字暂时不会增长了。

Up until now, the US government has been shut down for 35 days. Luckily, this number will not increase for now.

日前，多个机场的航班由于空管人员的短缺延迟了。

Just recently, many flights from multiple airports have been delayed due to the shortage of air traffic controller.

今天，参议院和众议院全票通过了一份法案。这份法案提议为联邦政府的运行提供3星期的资金。

Today, the Senate and House unanimously passed a bill. This bill is about funding the federal government for 3 weeks.

随后，特朗普总统签署了这份法案，停止了美国历史上最长的政府关闭。

本月22日，中国支付宝和意大利付款支付公司Tinaba、打车应用程序IT Taxi联合宣布，意大利10余个旅游城市8000辆出租车可以用支付宝付费了！

22nd Jan, China’s zhifubao, Italian payment company Tinaba and taxi app IT Taxi issued a joint statement that about 8000 taxis in more than 10 tourism cities in Italy accepts zhifubao as a payment method!

在此之前，支付宝已经扩散到了除中国大陆以外的多个国家和地区。

Prior to this, zhifubao has already spread to many districts and countries outside of mainland China.

其中包括香港、澳门、台湾、日本（东京、冲绳）、新加坡、美国（纽约、拉斯维加斯）、芬兰（赫尔辛基、洛瓦涅米）、意大利（罗马）和澳大利亚。

每年的国情咨文是美国最重要的时刻之一。当任美国总统会在国会发表演讲，是一次难得的争取国会支持以及提高民意支持率的机会。

The annual State of the Union Address is one of the most important moments for the US. The present president would deliver a speech at Congress, which is a good opportunity to gain Congress support and raise public support rate.

今年的国情咨文原本应该在1月16日发表，但是因为政府关门，它被一再推迟到1月29日。

Originally, the State of the Union address was scheduled for 16th Jan, but due to the shutdown, it was delayed to 29th Jan.

昨天（1月23日，星期三），众议院议长佩洛西撤回了演讲邀请，理由是自1977年以来，美国没有在政府关门的情况下发表国情咨文的先例。

最近，随着2019年春运的开始，网络上开始了如火如荼有关“熊孩子”的讨论。

As chunyun 2019 begins recently, there has been a viral decision online regarding ‘bear children’.

“熊孩子”是指那些特别淘气、影响到其他人的孩子。而“熊孩子”一般有过分溺爱他们的“熊家长”。

‘Bear children’ refer to those who are particularly naughty and affects other people. ‘Bear children’ usually have ‘bear parents’ who are enabling them

想一下，如果车厢里有很多熊孩子制造噪音，跑来跑去，不仅会让旅途格外难熬，而且如果他们摔倒或撞到别人，也会产生安全隐患。

春节是家人们欢聚一堂的节日。
The Spring Festival is the holiday during which the family gets together.

生活在一个国土面积比较大的国家，很多中国人背井离乡，到其他城市工作。
Living in one of the biggest counties on earth, many Chinese live their hometown and seek job opportunities in other cities.

但是无论如何，在春节前夕，这些人会赶回家，直到春节假期结束后才再次外出工作。
No matter what, these people will rush back home prior to the Spring Festival and only leave after the Spring Festival holiday.

春节期间的交通运输被称作“春运”。
The transportation takes place during the Spring Festival is called ‘chūnyùn’.

（接上篇）年夜饭还有很多各种各样的美食。

(Continued) There are various types of delicious dishes in the New Year Feast.

它们大部分有一个共同点：你可能已经猜到了，就是“谐音”！

Most of them have something in common, you may have guessed, is ‘xiéyīn’, which refers to different characters sounds the same or similar.

这些食物本身或者它们的做法中，都有个别字词和另一些吉祥的词汇听起来相同或相近，所以它们才可以荣登“年夜饭必备菜”之榜。

These dishes themselves or their recipes all contain some vocabularies sound the same or alike to a few prosperous phrases. That is why they can make it up the list of ‘necessities in the New Year Feast’.

除夕的那天，所有家庭成员会一起吃晚饭。这顿饭被称作“年夜饭”。
On Chinese New Year’s Eve, all the family members gather and have dinner together, which is referred to as ‘nianyefan’ New Year Feast.

年夜饭可以在家吃，也可以去饭店吃。
The New Year Feast can be had at home or restaurant.

不过，你知道年夜饭应该做或者点什么吗？
Though, do you know what to cook or order for the New Year Feast?

不同地区的人们又不同的年夜饭菜谱。但是，一些食物因为它们美好的寓意，成了很多餐桌上的必需品。
People from different regions have different menus. However, due to their prosperous hidden message, some food becomes a necessity on the dining room table.

新加坡

在新加坡，压岁钱的数量一般是5-20新币。
In Singapore, the typical amount of the Lucky money ranges between 5 to 20 dollars.

不管你是孩子也好，未婚青年也好，只要你上别人家拜年，大部分时间都能拿到红包。
As long as you visit other people’s houses and send New Year Greetings (Bai Nian), you can get red packets most of the time, no matter you are a child or unmarried young people.

还记得在我的上一份工作，也拿到了前辈的红包，真的是心花怒放。
I still remember receiving red packets from seniors at my last job. It truly made my day.