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Celebrating the Year of the Ox

By Marilyn Loeser

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

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Marilyn (Thorbahn) Loeser is a writer/editor for the Postal Service. Marilyn has been a journalist for more than 30 years and is currently a freelance feature writer specializing in travel.

 

President-elect Barack Obama is an Ox and so are you if you were born in 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985 or 1997.

According to the Chinese Zodiac, a person born during the year of the Ox is dependable, calm and methodical and a tireless worker, fair-minded and a good listener, but often stubborn.

Because of their steady and trustworthy character, the Ox is often entrusted with positions of authority and responsibility. They will not fall short where duty calls. Colin Powell and James Baker were also born under the sign of the Ox.

The Postal Service dedicated its Celebrating Lunar New Year: Year of the Ox commemorative 12-stamp souvenir sheet January 8 in New York City at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where Chinese-American stamp artist Kam Mak serves as an associate professor of illustration.

"The start of the Lunar New Year is the biggest holiday of the year for one of every four people in the world," said USPS Senior Vice President, Mailing Services, David Shoenfeld at the dedication ceremony. "It's a time of celebration and reflection for millions of Americans."

This is the second stamp in the current Chinese New Year series, which will continue through 2019 with stamps for the Year of the Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. Last year, the first in the series — the Year of the Rat — was released.

In addition to sheets of 12 42–cent stamps, the Postal Service is offering note card sets. The sets include 12 note cards, 12 envelopes and a sheet of stamps.

Stamps sheets and note card sets are available at your local Post Office or online at usps.com.

This article is not copyrighted.

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Readers' Comments

  • ...no one is asking you to renounce your citizenship, adopt the philosophy of Confucius or jump a freighter on it's way to Shanghai. It's a nice article about the Chinese New Year the the USPS stamps issued to commemorate the event. And I'm not sure what you meant the by the 'American' comment. If y...
    Posted: January 26, 2009 10:31 AM
  • Be more sensitive to the "other" nationalities. Isn't that what we are being told? Remember the Americans, so too we will if not now the minority....
    Posted: January 15, 2009 2:28 PM
  • Our country is founded in Christian beliefs why are we celebrating the Chinese beliefs? Where is the ACLU now?????...
    Posted: January 14, 2009 8:26 AM

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