Chinese New Year At The Roberts Household
Chinese New Year At The Roberts Household
As I was in my Mandarin class on the night of Chinese New Years Eve, I decided to surprise Pei when she got home by decorating the front door in the sort of banners I thought they used for Chinese New Year. I was thinking about how it’s like Christmas in Taiwan at Chinese New Year, and maybe she missed her family and so on. It was a bit disappointing that I was in class on the night of New Year’s Eve but I’d missed a few lessons this term already and was behind. So the next night I thought I’d try and do something for her. I managed to find some banners that looked good online, printed them off, cut them to size and stuck them to the door, et voila -
I also thought it would be good if we thanked the ancestors. I could remember a little about ancestor worship from my visits to Taiwan, so I steamed the last of our rice (it looked like maybe they would be hungry ancestors), and arranged some fruit and incense on a tray. Pei was looking at me as if I was a loon. I know a tomato, four mushrooms and a plum might not be traditional fare, but I was on short notice here, and dying from man-flu. It was the best I could come up with, and I tried to show respect to the traditions of Chinese New Year whilst making it a bit of fun for me and Pei. Although thanking the ancestors is very serious, of course. Anyway, Pei obviously felt too embarrassed to offer this to the ancestors, so I did it, burning incense and explaining to the ancestors it’s the thought that counts. After I’d had a go, Pei showed me how it was really done. Hopefully they took it well, and there was no offence intended.
I got Pei what looked to me like a nice Chinese New Year card - I had no idea what it said on the front though, and was relying on the shopkeeper not to play some practical joke on me….
It all seemed to go well. Hopefully the ancestors enjoyed their unusual meal, I think Pei liked her card and I may even have got some brownie points for my efforts! This year I got away without having to eat chicken’s feet. Bonus!