Hi everybody! It's me Nikki,
with a brand-new Nikki's Wiki!
This is my Cool School report on the Year of the Monkey.
Sounds awesome, right?
I love monkeys!
They're so cute,
and funny,
and who doesn't like bananas??
But some of you might be thinking: "year of the monkey"?
What does that even mean??
Is Earth going to be taken over by monkeys like the movie Planet of the Apes??
Don't worry.
The year of the monkey actually has to do with the new year and the Chinese zodiac.
The zodiac, or astrology,
is all about where the stars and planets were way up in the sky
at the moment you were born!
Chinese astrology has been studied for thousands of years!
So now,
My friend Drew Pendous will draw a time machine to take us waaay back to Ancient China!
Hey Drew!
Hi Nikki!
Okay... one time machine comin' right up.
Whoa!
Here we are! Ancient China!
Awesome! This is cool!
Hey look! These guys are studying the planets,
stars,
and time!
It's amazing how they figured out how to study stars so long ago.
Before there were any spaceships.
Sure is!
K Drew, let's go back to 2016!
Huh??
I built a time machine and we traveled over 2,000 years
just to look at some astrologists?!
Aaand for an ancient-Chinese selfie!
My favorite part of the Chinese calendar has to be what the Chinese call
The Race of the 12 Animals.
The rat,
the ox,
the tiger,
the rabbit,
the dragon,
the snake,
the horse,
the goat,
the monkey,
the rooster,
the dog,
and the pig.
The legend is that ALL the animals had to race across a big river
and that's where the order comes from.
The rooser, goat, and monkey
all work together by floating across in a raft.
That must've been one NOISY boat ride!
And smelly...
A lot of people believe that your personality comes from your animal sign.
In China, they call that Shenxiao.
That means "birth likeness."
So babies who are born in the year of the monkey,
will grow up to be curious,
smart, and
a little bit mischievous.
Just like monkeys!
But people with monkey signs are not totally like REAL monkeys.
My cousin was born in 2004,
the last year of the monkey.
And, he lives in Omaha, Nebraska.
Definitely not the jungle!
And he talks like this:
Hey, I'm Brian!
Not like this:
[monkey noises]
He IS pretty good at climbing trees, though...
And he does eat a LOT of bananas!
Okay, now let's talk about the most important Chinese New Year subject:
How to celebrate!
Wear red.
Red is supposed to be one of the LUCKIEST colors!
So you should also choose the red piece if you play any board games!
Make red Chinese lanterns to hang for Chinese New Year decorations.
And, eat lots of delicious dumplings!
Don't forget to go to the Chinese New Year's parade!
You might see traditional dragon dancers!
No, not ACTUAL dancing dragons...
although that would be awesome!
Dragon dancers are actually people who carry a big colorful figure through the parade.
It's kind of like a big dragon puppet, that dances!
And the last tip I have for celebrating this new year is...
Be nice!
You'll get bad luck if you're not nice during the Chinese New Year.
Sooo, it's probably best to avoid your little brother until you're done celebrating.
Okay. That's all I have for 2016, the year of the monkey!
Which do you think is the best year to be born:
the year of the monkey,
or the year of the dragon?
Or, maybe the year of the rabbit.
Tell me in the comments!
And of course, click like, subscribe, and click right over here to watch more wikis with me, Nikki!
Bye!