February 25, 2010
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| First course of New Year's Eve dinner. Next course included turtle soup. |
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| Buying fireworks |
I am sitting at my friend Tong’s house. Its Chinese New Year’s
Eve. The whole family just finished a large meal, which included but was not
limited to, the finest bai jiu in the land, Californian red wine, and turtle
soup… my first time eating turtle. We are now sitting in the living room
watching a traditional 4-hour-long variety show that includes singing, dancing,
skits, and comedy acts. Its been really fun celebrating Chinese New Year with
Tong’s family. His parents are incredibly nice and accommodating. I feel
forever indebted to them and Tong for having me here and treating me like a
princess. They won’t let me pay for anything and every time I try to do dishes,
they shoo me out of the kitchen. Last night we went out to dinner and drank
copious amounts of Shaoxing wine. I ended the night on the verge of vomiting.
Chinese New Year is like a combination of Christmas, American New Year’s, and the 4th of July. During dinner it sounded like a war zone outside from all the fireworks people were setting off. If all of China wasn’t gathered around the television right now, I’m sure the fireworks would still be going off. The holiday is a time when everyone goes home to their families. Since Shanghai is about 90% immigrants from other provinces, the city is really empty right now. Spring Festival, another name for Chinese New Year, is a holiday for spending time with family, eating incredible amounts of food, and drinking heavily. After trying to pay for a meal, Tong’s father told me that the only thing his guest has to do is drink as much as they can.
Today we decorated the house with lanterns and other red decorations. Before coming here, I asked many Chinese friends what would be appropriate gifts for Tong’s family. My Chinese tutor asked if Tong was my boyfriend, and when I replied no, she said ‘that’s kinda weird.’ Apparently celebrating Chinese New Year with a family is serious enough to warrant a romantic relationship with a family member. I’m so grateful and lucky that Tong and his family have had me here for this special week. Tong has been introducing me to friends and family as his peng you, which means friend. His mom told him it would be better if he said tong xue, which means classmate. Peng you sounds too close to nu peng you, which means girlfriend. For gifts, I finally decided on getting apples and oranges, which represent health for the new year, and bottles of Californian cabernet sauvignon and Italian prosecco.
(February 13)
At midnight when the variety show was done, we all went outside to light fireworks that we had bought ourselves. To our delight, it was snowing lightly and about 2 inches of snow covered the ground and trees. It was gorgeous. Tong and his cousin started setting off fireworks and firecrackers. I hid behind a post. Tong called out, “Lindsay, what are you doing!?” Oh, nothing, I’ve just been taught since the age of 5 that fireworks are death machines. What do you think this is? Nevada?
Chinese New Year is like a combination of Christmas, American New Year’s, and the 4th of July. During dinner it sounded like a war zone outside from all the fireworks people were setting off. If all of China wasn’t gathered around the television right now, I’m sure the fireworks would still be going off. The holiday is a time when everyone goes home to their families. Since Shanghai is about 90% immigrants from other provinces, the city is really empty right now. Spring Festival, another name for Chinese New Year, is a holiday for spending time with family, eating incredible amounts of food, and drinking heavily. After trying to pay for a meal, Tong’s father told me that the only thing his guest has to do is drink as much as they can.
Today we decorated the house with lanterns and other red decorations. Before coming here, I asked many Chinese friends what would be appropriate gifts for Tong’s family. My Chinese tutor asked if Tong was my boyfriend, and when I replied no, she said ‘that’s kinda weird.’ Apparently celebrating Chinese New Year with a family is serious enough to warrant a romantic relationship with a family member. I’m so grateful and lucky that Tong and his family have had me here for this special week. Tong has been introducing me to friends and family as his peng you, which means friend. His mom told him it would be better if he said tong xue, which means classmate. Peng you sounds too close to nu peng you, which means girlfriend. For gifts, I finally decided on getting apples and oranges, which represent health for the new year, and bottles of Californian cabernet sauvignon and Italian prosecco.
(February 13)
At midnight when the variety show was done, we all went outside to light fireworks that we had bought ourselves. To our delight, it was snowing lightly and about 2 inches of snow covered the ground and trees. It was gorgeous. Tong and his cousin started setting off fireworks and firecrackers. I hid behind a post. Tong called out, “Lindsay, what are you doing!?” Oh, nothing, I’ve just been taught since the age of 5 that fireworks are death machines. What do you think this is? Nevada?
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