Because we had arrived home last year just days before the start of Chinese New Year, we sadly did nothing in recognition of the holiday. We didn't want to miss the opportunity for a second year in a row, especially because the biggest holiday of the year for the Chinese also coincided with the one-year anniversary of being together as a family of six. We had a lot to celebrate!
The Chinese New Year starts on Monday, February 8, so I wanted to celebrate on New Year's Eve, but that happened to be the Super Bowl, so our party got pushed to the Eve of New Year's Eve, or Saturday. Such things sometimes happen when you're trying to balance two cultures.
Before dinner started, my mother-in-law taught everyone about the "year of the monkey." People born in this year are supposedly "witty and intelligent with magnetic personalities, but also very naughty. Monkeys are masters of practical jokes, because they like playing most of the time." She then went around the table and told each person what his or her zodiac sign was and what they mean. Lively discussions ensued about who most resembled the supposed attributes of their zodiac sign.
Year of the Monkey - Do's and Don'ts
Such as it is in many cultures when it comes to holidays, food is a big component of Chinese New Year. I love to cook and am determined to learn how to cook a few key Chinese dishes, but Chris convinced me that cooking dishes I'm not familiar with for 14 people would not be in my best interest. A friend had given me a recommendation for a Chinese restaurant run by a woman from Shanghai, so I reluctantly gave in and ordered food. I set the table with dinner plates, bowls of soy sauce, chopsticks and the tea sets we had bought last year in China and then Chris showed up with steaming hot containers of noodles, meat and vegetable dishes and of of course dumplings, a symbol of luck and fortune for the new year. As we dug into the delicious food, I knew I couldn't have made it any better.
Chris and I hope that we can gather our family and friends every year for Chinese New Year and that we can expand upon traditions in future years as we learn more about the birth culture of Kiera and Matteo.
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