have an Ox-picious new year!
ok call me 老土 but i must say that my favourite holiday of the year is definitely CNY. in many ways, CNY is to the chinese as christmas and thanksgiving is to the westerners. here's how:
- there's this whole festive spirit going on way before the actual day. people get less and less productive and attentive by the day.. one prof tried to have a 4-hr make up seminar on friday and towards the end everyone just started talking amongst ourselves. even the prof started interacting with the group sitting in front. obviously, no one could sit still anymore, so he wrapped up the seminar and ended it 1 and a half hr earlier. yay!
- there's a perfect reason to shop for new clothes and a reason to ask for a little monatary add-on coz the cash flow is low for that purpose. wahaha!
- there's the reunion dinner that everyone is rushing home to. it's like thanksgiving dinner tat all the ang moh's return home for. i was working before my reunion dinner so i had to rush like shit to my grandma's place after that. the house was in e middle of a private estate so i could see all the gatherings in many of those big houses. and it's really heart-warming to see people frm every age group sitting at the large table and feasting.
- CNY morning and christmas morning is exciting for all kids. like ang pao and food and new clothes! who is not excited? ok maybe joseph whose dad force him to by new clothes (through sms summore). but he's not the point. the point is that it's exciting for me despite being so old liao.
- the food! omg! i concluded that festivals are never complete without food. food is as much part of the core of the celebration as the spirit of the holiday. so there's the feasting every meal and the snacks and snacks and snacks in between. i'm so glad cheerleading is over liao so there's no need to maintain that weight. time to get back all the weight that i've lost through the trainings and the pressure to be lighter for cheerleading!
- every CNY is the same. i guess for the ang mohs, the christmas is the same every year - open presents, breakfast, church blah blah (actually i donno wad else they do, but i guess it's a family ritual thing every year) so for me, day 1 will be spent eating and slacking at my greadma's house during the day and all the cousins will come in the evening and everyone will make merry till late. day 2 will be shuttling between my dad's extended family side (which i dislike to go, coz i hardly noe them) and my mom's extended family side (which i like coz we'll be visiting wif e cousins, so it's a massive mobile party) it doesn't change every year - same places, same people, same order, same timing. but it never gets boring. and i kinda find comfort in such routine. unlike the other holidays, which are spent with different groups of people every year depending on which phase of my life i am in.
- it's all about family and holiday. CNY is still not as commercialised as christmas or valentine day coz i guess ppl die die don wanna work on CNY. sure we have all the CNY sales and cheesy/annoying/disgusting cny songs blasting everywhere. but almost all shops close early on CNY eve and some don open till day 3 (so unlike christmas with all the extended shopping hours) TM at 6pm today was damn empty and the shops that were open were operated by employees of other races lo. no one cares bout the business anymore. that's wad holiday is all about man - family.
yay! and we have a list. when was the last time i made one..
anyway Happy CNY everyone!
