Chinese New Year

        Believe or not, I didn’t like festivals when I was a child. Wired, right? Chinese New Year was the favorite festival for almost all kids, including my younger brother. Delicious food, new clothes, TV shows, game time, no homework, no disciplines… My brother’s favorite was definitely firecrackers, which he could play day and night for weeks.

        But I would rather find a quiet corner to hide during holidays. Visiting relatives was a big burden to me. The only comforting place was one of my cousins’ house because she is as “antisocial” as me. When we met, after the basic curtesy to greet each elder, we quickly locked ourselves in a room to talk about the books we read, the pictures she painted, and the music we appreciated. She even likes Laosheng in Beijing Opera and Kun Opera. Time went fast in our small world.

        I didn’t feel at ease to be antisocial and actually made efforts to be more cheered up in Chinese New Year’s celebration. I helped my mom clean house, wash bedsheets, cook festival meals; I played firework with my brother and skated on icy lake with my friends; I did enjoy the time to make dumplings and watch TV with all the family members, but all of these were not truly satisfying celebration in my mind. I remember in one of the New Year’s Eve, I felt I should do something for myself, something to celebrate the festival in my way. Luckily, a flower shop was still open in the late afternoon of that New Year’s Eve, so I brought back a bunch of red carnations to decorate the house. Carnation is not typical New Year flower that florists would recommend, but I like them as it is meant to signify love, fascination, healing, and strength, and has a long flowering period. That’s probably the most memorable Chinese Year’s Eve in my teenager years.

        Chinese New Year turned to be more meaningful only after I went to Canada. Just like home, it is something that is more clearly defined only when a distance exists between us. I had some cool and memorable celebrations during the years I was studying abroad along. I started skiing and waved to New Years on the top of snow mountains. I biked to downtown to see festival lights in a -40F night; my eye lashes turned to be mini icicles. I hugged with my best friend to welcome the new millennium; my tears welled up at the moment when the glorious fireworks illuminated the sky above us in the Inner Harbor. I traveled many places to chase dreams, but nothing could replace the gathering with Chinese friends at Chinese New Year to create an extended family in a foreign land. When Chinese food is not a default any more, we learned to cook one after another traditional Chinese dishes to create a taste of home.

        Finally family was settled when kids were born. Home suddenly has a new layer of meaning. Suddenly you are not the one who has to follow all the family traditions reluctantly, but the one who creates traditions for the family. You don’t have the option to treat the New Year’s day just as another exciting day, but are counted to open the window for your kids to understand Chinese culture and history. Many things I didn’t care before turned to be happy obligations. We dress up together with Tangzhuang Qipao, hang red lanterns, post red “Fu”, cook New Year dishes with special names and blessing meanings. Over the years, my daughter learned to make dumplings, sweet rice bowl (八宝饭), sweet dumplings (汤圆), even 酒酿。They learned to speak and read Chinese, laugh at Chinese comedy shows, and be able to appreciate Chinese cultures. I can see one day they will carry over the celebration and carry on this memorable festival in their life.