Spring Festival / Chinese New Year’s falls on Valentine’s Day this year. This fact is insignificant to me on its own, as I have never actually celebrated February 14th in the American tradition of Hallmark cards, gourmet chocolates, or red roses.
However, it is the Year of the Tiger – my birth year – and it will not come around again for another twelve years. In the past, my family (more like the entire surname clan) would gather at my great-grandmother’s house. Since her passing two years ago, we have not seen our distant relatives. There are no tes, shrimp chips, or steamed dumplings to look forward to. No red envelopes to pass out to giggling children or lion dances to watch. The gap was filled with mediocre attempts to capture the atmosphere of my childhood. I want this time to be special, memorable, and enough to last another decade and two.
What do you think we should do on this auspicious occasion? If you observe this holiday, what are your plans? What does Chinese New Year represent to you?
more than anything, I feel that CNY is a time for families to come together again, especially those who have been away from home for the rest of the year.
I don’t really have plans per se. I just try to visit the homes of whoever’s back (relatives and friends) and catch up on their latest happenings. this probably sounds quite monotonous, but I find things being more dull the last few years or so. it was always more interesting when I was younger, when fireworks weren’t banned and more relatives and friends were home (people are busier with their own lives, I guess. also: I find myself being in your situation as well–some of the relatives don’t really come home anymore during CNY since the elders have passed on…)