Mas New Year

Happy New Year, again.
Well, it seems that the new year just keeps popping up. What is the deal with that?
Does everyone just celebrate it on a different day cause that's how it turned out? Or is it something more sinister? Ethnocentrism. Does everyone just want to be different as in better? Each group would claim to have the rights on the new year. Since the new year is abstract and man-made then should not the ones who invented the scheme then determine the start date. And as such, there would only be one proper New Year on the calendar.

More and to the point. Yesterday I, along with many others, went to the local Buddhist Temple to celebrate the Cambodian New Year. We had a great time. This is the kind of New Year celebration that the rest of us would have if the new year were in spring. We had music, popular Cambodian of course, food, more food, incense, so much that you had trouble breathing even outdoors, and yes even chanting and the like. The chanting was broadcast so it provided a nice backdrop to the event. There was a new shrine (a mausoleum) and some other shrines set up for the event. Also, there was a large Buddha, though construction not quite complete. Away from the temple buildings was where the real celebration was; the afore mentioned food and music. Lots of folks, not just Cambodians, were having a great time.

It was good times. Though the new year celebration is passed, I will be spending more time at the temple. Maybe more fun can be had and some new friends made. Also, I may figure out those chants and gain some enlightenment.