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My
parents and I have been getting along
surprisingly well. Let me rephrase that,
we have not been fighting.
Probably from their perspective I have
totally forgotten about Chaz and they no
longer feel that their perfect Chinese
daughter is doing anything that would
cause them shame or disgrace. They are
totally wrong, but in a way, they're not.
I mean, since I've been exchanging emails
and chatting with Elvin online, there's a
part of my heart that has forgotten about
Chaz. (There's also a part that feels sad
about the pain he is going to feel when I
get the nerve to tell him that my feelings
have changed.)
But
the part my parents totally don't have a
clue about is what's going on inside my
heart now. Chaz may be almost completely
out of the picture, which would make them
happy. But I can't help thinking that when
they find out about Elvin, they are not
going to feel much better. Who am I
kidding? They're going to be out of their
mind with worry. What kind of respectful
Chinese daughter meets guys on the
Internet and falls in love with them!?
This one.
Part
of the reason my parents are in such a
good mood is that Chinese New Year's is
here and we all love this time of year. So
while the Christian world is only up to
the year 1998, the Chinese world is about
to celebrate the beginning of the year
4696! This is the Year of Tiger, the same
year both of my parents were born. There
are 12 different animal signs in the
Chinese zodiac and each represents a
different set of characteristics. People
born in the Year of the Tiger are willful
and make good leaders, though they can
also be overbearing and bossy. I was born
in the year of the Dog. That's supposed to
mean that I am honest, faithful, sincere.
That I am born old but get younger as the
years go by. I have read that dog people
take things very seriously. I guess part
of that sounds like me, but I haven't been
feeling very honest or faithful to Chaz. I
know I wouldn't like it if the situation
were reversed and he was the one going out
with someone online without telling me
about it. I don't even want to think about
it. And luckily, there's so much to do to
get ready for the holiday, I haven't spent
much time thinking about it.
This
is definitely the time for family. And
since the Chinese New Year is celebrated
for 15 days, there's plenty of time for
visiting all of our relatives. Cousins and
aunties and uncles... (Some of them are
actually related by blood, but most of the
people I call my auntie and uncle are
really just close friends of my parents).
The cool part, aside from all the amazing
food (I'll get to that in a minute),is
that this is the time of year that all the
grown-ups give "lucky money" to all the
kids. (In the Chinese tradition, as long
as you are not married, you're considered
a "kid," so I guess I can count on getting
lots of lucky money for years and years!).
Ever since I was a little kid, just seeing
those red envelopes (for us Chinese, red
is a very lucky color) that everyone puts
the money in, makes me excited. And when
we say "Gung hay fat choy" - Good fortune
and luck be with you, the good fortune
we're talking about includes getting
rich!
Auntie
Linda (my mother's aunt) is a terrific
cook and on Chinese New Year's Even (The
Night of Plenty) we have a big feast at
her house. Traditionally Chinese we don't
eat a lot of meat (fish, yes, but not red
meat). But on this night, we have chicken
and pork. Oh, and there's this vegetarian
dish called jai. It has wood ear
fungus in it (that looks like an ear) and
this other kind of fungus, I don't
remember the name, but it looks like a big
clot of hair. (I'm not kidding!) I don't
like it all that much. Grown ups like it.
When we're in the mood for something
sweet, Aunty Linda always has a round box
of candy with pie shaped sections and
there are candied lotus seeds and roasted
watermelon seeds. There are these chewy
candies wrapped in rice paper, and you can
eat the paper! At the end of the meal
there's a dessert drink called red bean
paste soup. But my absolute favorite is
"taro tapioca paste soup." That's made of
taro root, tapioca, and coconut
milk.
Because
we live in San Francisco (where Cantonese
is the 2nd most popular language after
English), we could easily go to Grant
Avenue (the main Street of Chinatown) and
watch the Chinese New Year's Parade. My
parents took me a few times when I was
little. I loved the long dragon with what
looked like at least 50 pairs of feet. And
the lion dancers for good luck. The kung
fu demonstrations. And the firecrackers to
drive the demons away. And the people
shouting and cheering. But my parents say
they each year the crowds get bigger and
bigger and this time of year in San
Francisco if it isn't raining, it's often
cold. So instead of actually going to see
the parade outside, we usually just watch
it on TV. I don't mind. It's actually cozy
and fun.
My
father said that since I have been such an
obedient daughter lately (if he only
knew!) he had a big surprise for me. I
wonder what it is?
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