dong, dong dong chiang
I love sniffing the spirit of chinese new year in the air. It's just so warm and crisp and welcoming. Every chinese friend is getting ready to eat reunion dinner tonight; every chinese friend is prepared to observe the same traditions as you do. Perhaps that's the true reason of traditions? Nothing more than to forge this invisible bond we have with people of our own skin colour? Never mind what those traditions may mean? Chinese new year plant (the leaves that look like arrowhead), chinese new year goodies, oranges, spring-cleaning, no sweeping on the first day, big reunion dinners, hongbaos, wear red. I wonder if I am able to continue observing these traditions strictly to pass it on. My parents' generation grew up in a culture where their parents taught them everything they needed to know about chinese new year, and they obediently kept those traditions. But the environment I am nurtured in did not allow me to internalise these things; my parents simply continued doing the traditions without involving me or explaining to me the reasons behind them. Oh well. Maybe it will come naturally when the next generation arrives, that inexplicable desire to pass on whatever little you know to them.Happy, happy chinese new year!
posted by solitude @ 3:34 PM
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