Missing Chinese New Year

Fire crackers, red packets, new clothes... These are often part of the lyrics found in Chinese New Year songs. Regretfully, I was tired of hearing these songs for a time in my life, thinking they were too backward, too "Chinese". It was not "cool" to be too Chinese back then (when I was growing up). I was even too shy to mention I spoke a Chinese dialect - Hakka - at home! What? Not even Mandarin, but a dialect? I was afraid people would know my parents did not have much of a formal education.

Anyway, back to Chinese New Year! Now that I have not been able to travel home for Chinese New Year for years, because I have chosen to live in the so-un-Chinese United States, the uncool Chinese New Year songs are all I listen to, in the car, when this festive season approaches. They bring back such warm (not always good) memories of Chinese New Year I celebrated in Singapore. Now, I tell my 4-year-old how cool Chinese New Year is. He is a chatter-box, and feels it his duty to pass on any information learned from me. I heard him telling his father the other day, "Daddy, I want to go to Singapore for Chinese New Year! Then we can eat tidbits with friends all day, and talk nonsense all day!"

Yes, I do miss eating tidbits and talking nonsense all day, which I remember I thought boring one point during my foolish youth! I remember with some sadness certain years when we did not have enough money to buy new clothes. I remember feeling ashamed to put on the only new dress my mom bought me, from the market in the neighborhood (nobody bought clothes there - they were cheap, and mass-produced). I was hiding at home, looking out the window occasionally to see if any kid got on the same dress as me! I was big on being "original" then! I did not want to be caught wearing something someone else had on!

When we got older, and life got better, the dishes on the reunion dinner table got more, and "meatier". We would have fish, chicken, duck, and shrimp dishes all at the same time! My mom's jumbo shrimp dish was my favorite! We used to only be able to afford sodas during Chinese New Year! The orange soda was the popular drink during this festive season. Now, when I drink an orange soda, it reminds me of Chinese New Year. Sometimes, I even seem to be able to savour the taste of peanuts, or melon seeds (瓜子） mingled with orange soda in my mouth!

My mom and dad are getting old. I dare not ask for much, but I long to spend just one more Chinese New Year with them! I want to absorb as much of the Chinese tradition I left behind, and pass it on to my kids! I want them to learn how cool it is, to be Chinese (and American^.^)!

Extra Dime for The Holidays?

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Good Service Is Out!

Larry had never been to America. In fact, he had been to many Asian countries. It would be his first time traveling on an American-based flight. He was going on a Buddhist retreat in San Francisco.

He did not expect the flight to take forever! On top of that, service was poor. The flight attendants seemed to think the passengers owed them something. They did whatever they were supposed to do in a detached manner. Larry observed that if someone asked for anything extra, the person would be received with a cold reception with a raised eye-brow! Most of the time, the request would not be granted. If, by a slim chance, the request was granted, the person would be discouraged to repeat the action again. Larry missed the warm, caring, (even if faked) and eager-to-please attitude the flight attendants had on some other flights he had taken.

Larry sighed as he thought about the flying industry. The price of flying was always going uphill, but the service was going downhill! It was almost like having to pay a penalty for flying! Gone were they days when you were treated like kings because you could afford to fly!

Flying Little

The plane was full! Her baby was very tired, but she struggled to stay awake! How could a little baby know how to resist the natural instinct to sleep? All right. She was not that little. She was already 7 months old. Still, why would she not go to sleep when she was tired? She should not have a clue about what she would miss out on, if she fell asleep. She watched her baby's mouth open, and the dreaded screaming began! That was the scream of fatigue! She looked around at the other passengers warily! They hated her, or they would, after the flight, she thought.

She held the baby close, spoke to her sternly in Vietnamese, and started to rock her vigorously! That was the only way she would go to sleep. She sang to her a Vietnamese lullaby, over and over again, till the crying ceased, and the tiny body relaxed. Her body relaxed too, and she started to feel her arms aching. Gently, her heart thumping, she put her baby down on her seat. The baby did not stir. She heaved a sigh of relief, and sat on the floor beside the baby. She could rest for a little, till the tiny being woke from her sweet slumber.

Birth

When I had my first baby, I was induced, and was in extreme pain with the contractions triggered by the induction fluid. At some point, I went insane with pain, and asked my husband to ask the nurse to give me some pain medication. After what seemed like hours, the anesthesiologist finally came, and I was peaceful and calm after he injected me with the wonderful pain medicine, called epidural.

Just had my second baby a few weeks ago. I told my husband I was going to insist on pain medication before the extreme pain came upon me. Unfortunately, I had to be induced again, because the baby was overdue. The doctor prescribed another method of induction because circumstances were a little different from my first delivery. When the contractions became intense, I asked for pain medication. Of course, the nursing staff told me it was too early for me to have any. When I was finally declared "able" to get some pain medication, both anesthesiologists in the hospital were tied up in surgery! With every onset of contractions, I yelled my lungs out! I could not believe I was not going to get any pain relief! I For what seemed like hours, the nurses, and my husband, had to endure my piercing screams, till the baby was put in my arms.

Till now, I have no words to describe the pain brought on by contractions.

Copy-cat

My 3-year-old toddler is an extreme copy-cat! Spent Thanksgiving at some relatives' place, and my son got to play with two of his cousins. They were about 3 years, and 5 years older than him. He followed them around the whole time! The older cousin was a girl, and loved to dress my son up in dress-up clothes. My son was agreeable to whatever his older cousins wanted to do. The younger cousin was a boy, and wanted to be out in the backyard all the time. My son was happy to do that too! However, at some point, the cousins got tired of him constantly following them around, and would hide from him. I felt sorry for my son, but at the same time, was worried about him being such a huge "follower", and copy-cat! I wondered to myself if he would not develop his own identity. I was told by some friends though, that it was a typical 3-year-old thing! Oh well! Guess we shall see!

High Fever Woes

My little 3-year-old has been running high fevers on and off, since he turned 3. I'm worried about him whenever he runs high fevers. His little body will burn so hot it hurts to touch him. I've tried sponging him, but it doesn't seem to help much. He doesn't like to be sponged too, which makes the task even more difficult. The last time he ran a fever, he ended up with a runny nose, cough, and ear infection. He had never had an ear infection before he turned 3 too! Oh well! Hopefully, the fever woes will leave him alone after a while!