Today is February 10th, 2013-‐ Chinese New Year. When I woke up, I started to prepare with my mother for Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year’s preparations are not easy, because there are a lot of steps to do. For example, we need to pack up the red pockets, cook special foods like steam chicken with spring onion, oil and ginger sauce to dip, fried pork with a dry, greasy, and oil taste, steam fish with soy sauce, ginger, and spring onion, puan choi with mushroom, and rice. Puan Choi is like a bowl of different kind of main course in. All those special food on Chinese New Year represent different meanings. For example, chicken mean hoping families are together nicely, fish mean having a prosperous beginning and ending, but pork just have it on every Chinese meal, and puan choi mean wealthy. You also need to fill up the octagon buckets with different kinds of candy, red and black seeds, red pockets, chocolate, and these sweetened lotus seeds. Red pocket is an envelope for each family’s members to put money in. Every married couple had to give children and teens money. Also, prepare the clothes, and buy chocolate to bring to my family house. After we prepare all these things, I wear my New Year “huafu” dress, which is a traditional Chinese Dress, a small bag for receiving others red pockets, and my red shoes. Wearing those traditional dress, red shoes, and a small bag make feel very happy because it look beautiful on me. I help my mother get those chocolate for others family, and we started our tour of visiting families. After we arrive there, loud noise, crowded people, and a look of old fashion block inside. Everyone of our family has to say some Chinese phrases in order to have red pockets. So I say, “Gong xi fa cai” to my uncle and aunt! (Which means hoping people getting wealthy!) And they say, “Here’s a red pocket for you!” Then they say some phrase back to me like “Xue ye jin bu!” (Which means hoping your education keep improving!) I was so happy and jumping up and down. In order to make a fun Chinese New Year, there must some games going on like “Bingo”, and “fish, shrimp, and crab. Mostly kid play Bingo including me, because if you win in bingo you get extra money! So, Every one is very excited. While the game is going on, the next numbers called are “10, 14, 30, and 32.” “Yeah!” I cried very loudly. “I win, I win!” I said. And my aunt says “Yes you win, and here’s the money you earn!” At the time I want to win it again is time to eat. Which we have some “pun choi”, and is also time to go home! All my excitement drop down to very low. While at the car ride, I am curious about the origin of New Year so I ask my mother why we have New Year!
My mother said, “A long long time ago, there was a village. Every New Year’s Eve they will get terrorized by a dragon called ‘Nian’. However on one of the year, they found with red decoration, red attire, fire crackers, and create loud noise would scare the dragon to stop terrorized them. Also, the found red color to Chinese means lucky. Even though we have to keep doing it, mostly because we want luck spread to all over each family. So, on every year they did the same thing, another reason because they want the culture keep going on and on. After I heard the story, it made me thought Chinese people were very creative and had a deep believe on these tales. So because of that China contains a lot of weird tales and believes. Even though they do, but I will still like China very much, because I have been living for ten years. When this conversation finished, it was time to get off and prepare for others families to come visit us. Today it is a very happy and a tried day for me. It is because I got a lot of red pockets, extra money and ate a lot of food too! Even though today I feel a bit of tried, but I still feel 95% happy! After all of this happened, the most fun thing I like to do is playing Bingo. It is because you can get extra money and the red pockets money.