Happy Chinese New Year =D
Here are a few things that are always there before, during and after CNY:
1. The spring cleaning – This can be very tiring but at the same time you might find long lost treasure that brings back memory. =D
2. The cookies baking – I am not too involved for the past few years, like I used to when I was still in my primary or high school. I am enjoying part of the eating though.
3. The visiting – There has always been the order when things happened, Dad’s side, then mom’s, mom’s mom’s… Mom comes from a bigger family
4. The hosting – There’s also the part when we become the host. Waiting for the guests whom we just met hours ago to visit us. It seems unnecessary, but that’s our family. Out of respect for the elders.
5. For both visiting and hosting, there are certain traditions, good ones, that we keep. The guests come with something and wishing the host all the good things, and the host won’t let the guests go back empty handed, making sure they go back bringing all the good things too, in the form of sweet goodies (representing all the sweet things in life), oranges (it’s ju zi (桔子) in Chinese, which rhymes with ji (吉) which means luck). During the process, you will see the bargaining processes on how much the guests will take back. The host will give as much as possible (because there are so much food at home), and the guest will take back as little as possible (for the same reason as the host).
6. Angbao giving and collecting. I am still in the latter category, as I am not married. In our family, no matter how old you are, you will still be receiving if you aren’t married. Some married couples will still be receiving from their parents (not from relatives though). It’s just a tradition where the parents will formally bless them (apart from us, the children, being in their daily prayer).
7. During the angbao distributing, you will also hear lots of good wishes wish upon you. For the young, “grow up fast” and “be good”, for the teenagers “good luck with your studies”, for the singles “hope to find a partner soon”, for the attached “hope to get married soon”, for the married with no kids “hope to get healthy children soon”, for the married with kids… they are supposed to give up angbao and giving out wishes. =D
This family isn’t perfect, but we are good with this. :)
During the New Year, some realities also set in deeper than it usually does. I sometimes think that having a son in the family will be a good thing too. As open minded as I am, there are some expectation in the Chinese family on how things should be. When we grow old, Girls should be married O-U-T, and for parents who don’t have boys at home, how do they feel when the New Year comes? Who will the mom be cooking for during the Chinese New Year eve? Who will help out the dad to lift things up during the spring cleaning? How do they feel waiting for the son-in-laws to bring their daughters back to them during the festive season? At this stage, I will never know for sure.
Here are a few things that are always there before, during and after CNY:
1. The spring cleaning – This can be very tiring but at the same time you might find long lost treasure that brings back memory. =D
2. The cookies baking – I am not too involved for the past few years, like I used to when I was still in my primary or high school. I am enjoying part of the eating though.
3. The visiting – There has always been the order when things happened, Dad’s side, then mom’s, mom’s mom’s… Mom comes from a bigger family
4. The hosting – There’s also the part when we become the host. Waiting for the guests whom we just met hours ago to visit us. It seems unnecessary, but that’s our family. Out of respect for the elders.
5. For both visiting and hosting, there are certain traditions, good ones, that we keep. The guests come with something and wishing the host all the good things, and the host won’t let the guests go back empty handed, making sure they go back bringing all the good things too, in the form of sweet goodies (representing all the sweet things in life), oranges (it’s ju zi (桔子) in Chinese, which rhymes with ji (吉) which means luck). During the process, you will see the bargaining processes on how much the guests will take back. The host will give as much as possible (because there are so much food at home), and the guest will take back as little as possible (for the same reason as the host).
6. Angbao giving and collecting. I am still in the latter category, as I am not married. In our family, no matter how old you are, you will still be receiving if you aren’t married. Some married couples will still be receiving from their parents (not from relatives though). It’s just a tradition where the parents will formally bless them (apart from us, the children, being in their daily prayer).
7. During the angbao distributing, you will also hear lots of good wishes wish upon you. For the young, “grow up fast” and “be good”, for the teenagers “good luck with your studies”, for the singles “hope to find a partner soon”, for the attached “hope to get married soon”, for the married with no kids “hope to get healthy children soon”, for the married with kids… they are supposed to give up angbao and giving out wishes. =D
This family isn’t perfect, but we are good with this. :)
During the New Year, some realities also set in deeper than it usually does. I sometimes think that having a son in the family will be a good thing too. As open minded as I am, there are some expectation in the Chinese family on how things should be. When we grow old, Girls should be married O-U-T, and for parents who don’t have boys at home, how do they feel when the New Year comes? Who will the mom be cooking for during the Chinese New Year eve? Who will help out the dad to lift things up during the spring cleaning? How do they feel waiting for the son-in-laws to bring their daughters back to them during the festive season? At this stage, I will never know for sure.
