A new year (Have we learned anything?)

Today is the start of the Chinese new year, the year of the snake, my year ;-) I am wearing red and will not have my hair cut for at least 10 days.  Not too much of an exercise in superstition if one considers all the people in the West living on the 14th floor of a hotel or highrise, feeling much safer than if they lived on the 13th floor, which presumably does not exist, but on which they will find themselves, if they bothered to count.

It is also a long weekend. In February? Yes, in February. After years of whining about the absence of long weekends between December and April, the government finally reacted and created "Family Day".  First time this year!  Of course it also highlights a sad state of affairs. With Chinese & Hong Kong immigrants being responsible for at least 10% of the population of British Columbia, wouldn't Chinese New Year have been a fitting choice for the new holiday? Am I the only one with that bad taste in my mouth after thinking: "Their wisdom, money, ingenuity, and/or labour was welcome, but the traditions are not"?

2013, Year of the Snake, and I guess the answer is still "NO".