But like BFL gently assures, one needs a treat ever so often. Though I've been rather good all this while resisting the winter sale, I've succumbed on the account of the Chinese New Year (CNY) - which falls in the first week of February. I am after all, half chinese ... so I console m myself. However, comparing to most Chinese, my 'hybrid' of a family have always celebrated the new year in a modest manner. There were no streams of guests - people coming out of the wood works paying you visits, 15 days of feasting on food and treats you won't otherwise eat except during the new year, hanging up trays of red decorations and burning truckloads of firecrackers and fireworks. What my mother made sure however was that we children had at least a couple new outfits to usher in the new year and a good sit down dinner as a family.
It's interesting too how now that I'm in my new country of residence I've begun to take note of cultural rituals that I once took for granted. Mum was always in charge ... and we (my siblings and I) merely towed the line. Now that I am in charge of introducing my new family and friends to cultural festivities of the Far East, I find the need to know my roots with depth just so that I am able to paint a richer picture about the significance of certain cultural events.
Somehow also, knowing and observing these rituals makes me feel closer to home and my side of the family even if I'm now thousands of miles away from my former country of origin ...
It's a juggling effort this process of adaptation ... On one hand, it is about knowing oneself better with deeper depth while on the other it's about learning and taking on new experiences, making new friends and learning to make this new country my new home. Interestingly, it's about staying the same and moving forward at the same time. I just found out (for the sake of this blog) that the new chinese new year would be the year of snakes ...!
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