The Year of the Snake

The last couple of weeks at work we did a small social media campaign promoting seafood during the Chinese New Year -- which is a huge holiday for the Chinese, and it's now officially the Year of the Snake.

We have an intern with us for the semester who is from China, and she wrote me a brief report about our outreach efforts and what it means to the Chinese and it suddenly dawned on me... That's my sign! My zodiac is the snake, betchesss!! ;)

So I went to Xin's office totally excited and told her it's my year! (This shiii only happens once every 12 years) and she reacted with complete... skepticism which made me so confused. I was like "What?! Isn't that good? It's my year!" And she told me that good things can happen yes, but it's also a very explosive year for me and bad things are more likely to happen. WTFCome again?!

I asked her what I should do about it and she told me I need to wear red to ward off bad spirits, so I was like, "Oh, okay, so during the Chinese New Year?" and she responded, "No, all year!" Ummmm, Xin, I have 2 red shirts (really not my color) so this is going to be a problem.

I didn't think too far into it, even though I can get weirdly superstitious about certain things, until my boss told me a story. He gets his hair done by an older Chinese woman, Mrs. Choo, and she asked him how old his mom was because she knew they were close to the same age. He told her turning 72 this year and she said "oh my gosh... sign of the snake, she must be careful!" She knew because it's always your sign in intervals of twelve. So let's recap here: Two unrelated Chinese women have essentially "warned" of the dangers of this year for people with the Snake as their zodiac animal.

So next, I read an article in the Wash Post about, you guessed it, the Year of the Snake. It says the Chinese see snakes as an object of fright (umm who doesn't?) and they're "overwhelmingly repulsed" by them. So at first I thought the Chinese act this way when it's anyone's "sign year," but then realized it's specifically the Year of the Snake that makes them so nervous!

The Wash Post says, "The Year of the Ox is connected with being productive and successful, as the animal represents hard work or simply a bull market. The Dog is loyalty, the Monkey is smart, and the Rooster crows. Even the year of the Pig wouldn't be a problem, as the mud-rolling creature symbolizes good fortune in traditional Chinese culture. This year, however, the Chinese lunar calendar has tossed up a major challenge: the Year of the Snake. Chinese idioms, phrases and old saying related to snakes are often negative."

The Post goes on to interview Chinese people who say they "could find nothing positive to say in cards to family about the Year of the Snake... so just went with Happy Spring Festival." (What the Chinese New Year is called). Rude.

Then the Post said: "People who were born in the Year of the Snake should be extremely careful, Qi said. "According to feng shui theory, people who bear the same zodiac animal of the year tend to suffer more disaster and damage."

So now I've gathered that the Chinese really don't like the Year of the Snake in general, but also that whenever it's the year of your sign you have to be careful. Take that Ox's, Dogs, and Monkeys!

On a lighter note...people born in the Year of the Snake include John F. Kennedy, Pablo Picasso, and Audrey Hepburn. "People born in the Year of the Snake are quick-witted, clever, charming, sharp and funny. They have excellent taste, are a good friend and generous and loyal to others."

I'm choosing to end on that note versus the your doomed the rest of this year note. Even though I guess I did just end on that. I believe in a self-fulfilling prophecy, and I truly think 2013 is a great year for me -- it already has been! But at the same time... this stuff is a little freaky. What do you guys think?!