The motor engines outside my window are still humping away as usual (but not in that sense, please.) The clock on my desk is ticking really loudly. Barley is licking his fur at my feet, I can almost feel the rough surface of his tongue combing the hopelessly fluffy body of his as he slowly makes his way, thrug, thrug, thrug, thrug. A dog’s collar was dangling nosily with bells as his owner walks him down the street. I live in a cheap second floor apartment. It’s quite easy to hear those sounds. But tonight, especially right now as I try to listen, is particularly quiet and vivid, that I can almost feel these sounds vibrating through air. I tried to figure out a word, then I realized that it’s ‘sentimental’. And I realized why. The factories and garages at my windows must shut down for the holidays. And the rest that lingered outside are hurrying their way home for the day to come. I am the only observer here. So the night has no other choice but to sing to me, exclusively.
Dear friends,
It’s probably not a surprise if I tell you there is a Chinese New Year. Anyway, although it’s only half past midnight, it is the eve of the celebrated family gathering occasion. The literal translation of Chinese New Year’s Eve means getting rid of the night. There was a monster that was called The Year. Legend has it that he prowled the early villages once a year to feed on the livestock people kept and harm the corp. So people stayed up late every year on that day and set fireworks to scare off the beast. I guest that’s why they implied a negative word on this day. But seriously, I only wish there’s a way to do the exact opposite. Is there a way to keep a night so that it won’t die and repeat with another over time? The truth is, no matter what you do, the night is going to pass you by, each one of us. I don’t know if they were aware of this when they put it like that.
I assume you all know a thing or two about this tradition of Chinese people. And there are already too many people that try to tell foreigners how to survive this holiday. Generally, it’s a little like Thanksgiving and Christmas in the U.S. combined together. Except that Chinese people are fakes, so they don’t really show any emotional sincerity and the disagreement that accompanies it in this celebration, which I heard, is the essential part of its western cousins. But do you know what it’s really like? To be honest, I don’t know what it’s suppose to be like, either.
First, a month before The Year Holidays, as we call it, people stop eating out and spending money. Because this is a very expensive time of a year, and you really need to watch it. It’s also suggested that you should be careful to leave valuable items at home, for burglary occurs more often during this time. Supposedly, some worse off people need some extra help, and let’s face it, breaking in is just cooler, you see?
Then, from ten to twenty days before it, you notice that the city announce the different dates for each area within to dispose of large waste and unwanted furniture on specified locations. Don’t be scared if you see a piled mountain that’s as big as a parking lot. It’s exactly what it should be. Why? Because at other times, you actually need to pay the city to do that. Only this time around does the government offer to put away large pieces of dump for free. And being like, the cheapest people on the planet, you can imagine why we are like really putting out to create such a sight. Seriously, when I saw the pile in my neighborhood this year, I just couldn’t stop laughing. I mean, something is terribly wrong with these people. It’s as if they were competing. And boy, how did they live with all these crap inside for the last year is beyond me. If I didn’t live here, I’d mistaken it for a piece of modern art. And there would be no name for the title, because ‘chaos’ wouldn’t be enough.
Then, the period from two to ten days before the holidays, is when companies hold their year-end feasts. Some just have dinner and are done with it. But Some, especially those big corporate giants, have concerts where stars and supermodels sing and perform on the stage while you stuff yourself silly. What was mine like this year? We just had dinner. But later moved to something like a wine tasting. But then Van, my boss, sat us down, and wanted us to talk about what we like about our jobs. I almost had a stroke. This is often the time bosses hand out red envelopes, with money inside signifying good luck in the year to come. But of course, this is also the time some bosses pretend they’re educated abroad and aren’t really familiar with the tradition.
We talked about red envelopes, but that’s only small money. We also have something like Christmas bonus, but it comes with the check a month earlier. Companies that had a good year sometimes have two months worth of monthly salary as year end bonus.
A couple days before the holidays, people start treating each other with ridiculous respect and love, as if they are forced to read chicken soup of the souls, ten in a row, and then become these hypnotized creatures that just want to be a part of the world. It may seem it’s busy in the office. People come and go, trying to get things done by the end of the year. But the truth is, what can be done is done already, and people don’t really want to start anything that can’t be finished. So they just come up with little things to do. My people are actually pretty creative when it comes to this. One of my colleagues took out everything in his drawer and put everything back in exactly where it was. He said he was ‘organizing’. Well, I’ll leave that to you. And plus, most companies follow western fiscal calendar, so Chinese New Year doesn’t change anything. Everybody knows that. I just don’t know why they act like they don’t. Anyway, just so you know, this time of the year, is the disguised period of openly leisure at work, mindless stupidity and pretense as well. But there is a saying though, “what’s owned must not be delayed past the year.” So I suppose whoever that’s really doing their jobs around this time of a year, is probably loan sharks and land owners.
Then there comes the last day at work, there is one particular joke you must be aware of. That is ‘I’ll have to see you in another year.” People tell it EVERY FUCKING YEAR. I first heard it when I was fifteen. Now I’m almost twice as old, and I’m still forced to laugh at it and hear people explain why it’s funny. Can you imagine the frustration? “Next year, you see? Next year, next time I see you will be the year of rabbits. Next year! See? Hahahaha!” Next year, my ass, don’t ever let me catch you alone and about to walk down the stairs.
On the eve of the Chinese New Year, families get together and have stew for dinner. The dinner is called ‘circling around the stove’, as you probably know, Chinese people prefer round tables because ‘round’ Chinese also means ‘together’. Different area has different customs. In the south where I lived temporary as a kid, there’s a dish that has to be prepared and cooked by the man of the household, kinda like curving the turkey. There’s also a dish you can’t bite but swallow whole. Sadly, I have to report, none of those tastes any good.
It’s kinda like Christmas in a way. Adults hand out red envelopes to kids just like presents under the tree. I have to confess, though, I had little experience with red envelopes. And plus, now that I’m a grown up. I get to see what it really is. I have doubts about keeping it a living tradition. I mean, if I had kids, I wouldn’t know what’s worse, to deprive them of the innocence to believe in small acts or to lie to them that ready money will always be there for them?
Chinese New Year is a holiday for families. For married couple, the first day of the New Year is to be spent at the husband’s father’s. The second day of the New Year is to be spent at the wife’s. The day is also called ‘going back to the mother’s’. And those that weren’t stay at their fathers’ and later make excuses to hang out with friends. Who knows, maybe some people get married just because they’ll get to participate in this shuffling around.
Since people start saving up before the New Year, get some old debt cleared, and receive some accidental fortune on mahjong tiles, they suddenly realize that they have some money to spend. So like Thanksgiving, the days after the main event, the New Year, is also the big sales day for department stores and retail business. But because everything is bright red and gold, it should be called tacky Friday instead of black, of course, it wouldn’t always be a Friday, but you know what I meant.
Business usually start again on the fourth. But it’s not always so. Bosses and business owners tend to consult the Agricultural Calendar, which tells them what days are good and what aren’t, before deciding on which day to start a new year.
Now after the feast comes the reckoning. That’s right. The so-called Holiday weight is a universal thing. I don’t know about you guys. But in here, it stays.
Chinese New Year is always cold, is suppose to be cold. People buy new clothes for their children for the New Year not only because they want to start afresh, but I suppose also for the feeling and comfort of warmth. I don’t really like this day to be frank. Business is closed and I often can’t even find a place to have a cup of coffee except McDonald’s, and I would rather drink tap water. The streets are crowded. And the traffic is just unbearable. And you see too many happy families outside shopping and hanging that it marks your own solitude as a defect. I hate the things I listed above. I hate friends calling and asking me to spend the New Year’s with their families. And I hate to explain to people why I don’t ‘go home’, or why I don’t ‘have a home’. And I feel old. I mean. The year is not even started yet. But I feel like I’m already running out of time.
But there are also things I like about this holiday of my heritage. I like the bonus for sure. I like the few days off work. And between you and me, I also, although secretly, like the few days of cloaked idleness at work before the New Year. I like the candies on receptionists’ desks that will, without a doubt, last into summer. And I remember how I used to love it that I could stay up late as a child and especially right now, how it’s quiet late into night and still a good few hours before the dawn. Although, I do have sympathy for the lone creature who’s wronged and threatened because of what’s likely to be misjudges based on twisted fear and ignorance. I wonder, while we still set off fireworks, does anyone really think about what became of him, how he died, how he wished he wouldn’t starve, and how he wished he had a save bed to lie. We celebrated the New Year. But I suppose it’s equally important, to think about the old one we threw out, out on the street, into the strangely comical pile.
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