Short and Sweet Like a Honey Bee
Chinese New Year is now a blur to me, but it’s nice to look at old photos and ask oneself: where did all the time go? We went on a number of adventures, so long story short:
Before we went to Beijing together I thought to myself:
(1) If the trip was disappointing, at least the food would be good.
(2) If the food was bad, at least Florian would be able to learn some Chinese.
(3) If Florian learned 0 Chinese, at least I would be too tired to care.
We visited a bunch of hutongs (Beijing-style alleyways) and went to a temple together. We ate street food with my mom and when she said, for the 999th time, that Florian is too skinny, I wonder if she was genuinely concerned about his health or just telling me subtly that my cooking sucked.
I remember eating CNY dinner with my family and Florian asking me why my family is so small. In his mind Chinese families are supposed to be so big that you end up forgetting your 6th cousin’s name.
My grandparents are currently living in a different province and my mom and her siblings are taking care of them. She has one older brother, one younger brother and an older sister, so I guess family reunions are bigger there.
One of the other things we did was going to this CNY fair that was more about people-watching than actual sight-seeing. I thought I was tired…
I have to say, going home with your boyfriend for Chinese New Year is hands down one of the most stressful things I have done. Because I have been living abroad for so long, it’s hard for me to always remember to observe tradition, especially since this was the first CNY I had celebrated in 8 years or more.
For a while I was on edge, and afraid that everything would be dull and boring to the both of us. However, whenever I took Florian to places that I grew up in but do not remember much about, I felt like I was splashing colors on a dusty, old canvas. I guess this is how old memories are overwritten, how you redefine your past with your future, or better, your future together.
At the end of our trip we made dinner for my family, and they were really happy to be able to sit down and talk to Florian. Florian made jachtschotel and I made 3 side dishes. I remember my mom telling me secretly after the trip that he did a better job, which obviously I am not going to tell him.
I wanted to write about CNY separately because it’s special to me, almost surreal. There are many more stories to come, some nice ones, some stressful-but-we-have-survived-chinese-new-year-so-nothing-scares-us ones, and like I always believe,
Too many stories is always a good story:)
