February 10th was Chinese New Year, heralding in the Year of the Snake.   This is not my year since I’m an Ox, as is my daughter.  Son and his dad are Horse and Monkey, respectively.  As an Ox, I am a hard worker who will live long due to my robust health but in my stubborness I may miss meals, which I can assure you must be a mistake.  Even though I never seem to stop talking, as an Ox I don’t like to socialize and am not particularly good at communicating with others.  I will likely stay in my relationships for a very long time  and I am, apparently, not prone to femininity (I’m an ox – what do you expect?).  Of my family members, we’ll all get along except I will butt heads with my son because Oxen and Horses don’t like one another.

The Year of the Snake – or the Year of the Worm as my friend’s young daughter prefers – bodes well for our family.  We have our health, we’re happy, we have jobs and a roof over our heads, loving friends and family.  What more is there?

Why, food of course!  What better way to celebrate Chinese New Year than drinking Tsing Tao beer, listening to some haunting Chinese folk music and eating!  There was a great feast.

Dinner included wontons with spinach and tofu, faux pork balls in sweet and sour sauce (for prosperity), long noodles (for long life) with veg and stir-fried rice, Chinese broccoli and green beans (long life for parents) and sautéed lily bulbs. The meal ended with the presentation of tangerines and pomelo (for wealth, luck and prosperity) along with a Tray of Togetherness.

The tray is divided into eight sections, each with a sweet that represents something: longans (many sons), lotus seeds (fertility), candied melon (growth and health), peanuts for a long and happy life, lychee nuts (close family), coconut for unity and friendship and kumquats for prosperity.  Prosperity abounds!

Since we’re trying to avoid sugar and sugary sweets we had a couple here and there but mostly just fondled the wrapped goodies and commented on how the tray sure was pretty to look at.  Son was intrigued but found the treats not sweet enough, probably because high-fructose corn syrup wasn’t the first ingredient.  It reminded me of a Hong Kong candy store we shopped at that was filled with bins of wrapped and exotic-looking treats.  We bought lots that day and when we tried some of them we realized how different the concept of sweet is between Asia and North America.  My guess is that there are probably far fewer ingredients in making a ginseng candy than in fluorescent green Starburst.  And so it was, the next day, the candy had to go.   Now it is being enjoyed by the students down the hall from my office who are feasting on the treats as we speak. In so doing, they will enjoy good growth and health, long life and prosperity which they will need in spades if they plan to live long enough to pay off their student loans.

A celebration is a nice way to spend a cold Saturday night in February.  We observe these rituations because it connects us to our daughter’s culture.  She is part of our family and now we are Canadians of Latvian, Spanish, Irish, French and Chinese heritage.  We’ve inherited a link to an ancient place, rich in history and tradition, and very different from what we were used to.  Our connection to China makes it feel like home.