The 8th of February was Mongolian New Year, or as the locals call it, Tsagaan Sar (White Moon). Mongolians traditionally follow a different calendar, the lunar calendar, so their year starts on a different day. Buddhist monks will study the position of the moon and then will announce when exactly the new year will start. During Tsagaan Sar people will visit the houses of their older relatives and friends, and will generally have a great time – eating, drinking and singing. The Tsagaan Sar holiday lasts for three days.
The first day is spent with direct family, and the following days are opportunities to visit more distant relatives or friends. People would do a lot of house-hopping, visiting perhaps 3 or 4 houses a day. The older generation hosts, and the young generation does the travelling. I was lucky enough to be invited a few houses during the Tsagaan Sar period. It was lovely to see the many traditions. The oldest man in the family has to be the first to walk out of the door in the morning, and will walk in the “wrong direction” and then double-back. Then the family will offer some milk to their Buddhist shrine, and will sprinkle some milk in the direction of the sky and the nearby mountains. This is to pay thanks to the spirits of nature. 
It was fascinating to see the tradition culture being lived out in a modern city. One of the traditions is that everyone greats each other according to their age, and is given a good sniff before they can sit down! Women will then sit on one side of the room and men on the other. The women do all the serving, whilst the men sit down and chat – whilst it was nice to be pampered for a few days I did feel a bit uncomfortable! The women seemed quite happy with the situation though. 
Food is a big part of the celebrations, and as usual meat plays a big part in the cuisine. There is a constant supply of buuz (meat dumplings) being provided, and the men cut slabs of meat from a huge chunk of mutton in the centre of the main table. The women of the household will ensure that you do not leave without a full stomach – “Ead, ead, ead!” (which helpfully enough sounds exactly the same as “eat, eat, eat!”). 
Each family has a cake which is the centrepiece of the Tsagaan Sar table. The cake is built up of many layers. The odd layers symbolise good times, and the even layers symbolise sadness. Needless to say, every family’s cake finishes off on an odd number! The number of layers also signifies the age of the head of the household. Grandparents would have 7 layers, middle aged people would have 5 layers and new parents would have 3. The cake is not eaten until Tsagaan Sar is over.Mongolians follow the Asian Zodiac signs, so each year is linked to an animal. Last year was the Year of the Pig, and now we are starting the Year of the Rat. You can find out more about the zodiac signs and which animal you are by going to http://www.chinesezodiac.com/calculator.php. Happy Year of the Rat to you all!
