Although I’ve gotten comfortable with my lazy lifestyle in the city, I decided to accept an invitation to spend the main day of the Lunar New Year at a student’s house back in the village. I didn’t realize this until lately, but this is a special New Year for me since you only celebrate your zodiac year本命年 every 12 years, and it’s my 24th year, the year of the Rooster! Apparently you’re supposed to wear red undergarments every day for your zodiac year to ward off bad spirits… I had always ridden the train to a nearby township and taken a half-hour motorcycle ride back to the school, so this was my first time trying the bus from the city to the village. I ended up at a station that didn’t have a bus that day and had to hitch a ride with a van of travelers that dropped me off at the bridge to the school instead of the market, so then I trudged through the muddy path to the market for 30 minutes (all uphill- haha) and was almost 2 hours late.

Holly (my student) had just finished moving into a very small backroom behind a medical clinic where she helps her husband sell medicine and administer shots and IVs. They were incredibly busy and had to stay out front while people came in and out, so I played with her 2 year old daughter before and after dinner. The three of us shared a hard bed while her husband used a cot on the other side of the chest where all of their clothes and cooking utensils and food sat. The next morning was the last day before the New Year, and during the day we mostly ate and chatted. After a chicken stew lunch, we went to her mother’s home where her brother, sister-in-law, and baby nephew also live. And right when we got there, her father came out with the stick he’d been stoking the fire with, followed by her mother bringing dish after dish of our holiday dinner- at 3pm! Oh no, I didn’t have any room to eat! Again, there were all kinds of meat from chicken and fish (both having auspicious connotations for the new year since they are homophones for words meaning “luck吉” and “plenty余” in Mandarin), and fat meat and dog meat stew and noodles… And since I was a guest, Holly constantly put more and more into my bowl even though I made it clear that I was happily full. I dragged myself to the other room to gather around the coal basin and we watched some of what looked like Chinese MTV and sang along with all of the songs. All the while they kept putting apples and peanuts and oranges in my lap!
And then at 6pm, Holly said, “let’s go eat dinner.” ‘What!?’ So we went to the kitchen this time, and she helped her mom stoke the fire under the wok, and we had some leftovers and rice. Again I dragged myself to the bedroom/visiting room while they got out the mahjong tiles and cards to play. I was in a daze like after Thanksgiving dinner (times 2!) and couldn’t figure the game out, but I think it’s somewhat like rummikub… They were playing for money, so I didn’t want to bother them asking questions. I followed her brother to the other room while he tried to get the baby to go to the bathroom (he holds him over a little basin and whistles, and it actually works!) and watched the New Year TV program, which was on every single channel. It was a really fascinating program, full of acrobatic routines, comedy skits, dances, and popular songs that I actually knew. The brother left after a few minutes, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I felt like I was in their way because they were having trouble concentrating on their game and making sure I was still eating their snacks and enjoying myself, and yet if I sat in the other room watching TV, what did that say!? Instead of doing anything, I just sat there “zoning” and pondering life and playing with Holly’s little daughter when she ran in and out to play the telephone game with me.
All the while the firecrackers were getting louder and louder outside, and finally around 11:00pm, I got to experience some interesting customs (the first 2 hour unit of time in the Lunar Calendar is 11pm to 1am on the Gregorian calendar, so it was officially the New Year). We ate the first New Year meal of round sticky rice dumplings (the name of the dish is a homophone for “high/prosperous year.” It’s so cool how so many of the traditions are based on wordplay- I just can’t get enough! The family went on little rounds to kowtow at the different displays with incense and pork fat and rice offerings they had laid out earlier. This was the most exciting part for me because I had read about some similar things in a class on East Asian Folklore at IU last year. I asked more about this, but Holly just said it was traditional “suspicion.” I asked about the kitchen display and gathered that it was to the kitchen god, but that’s all I got. Then about a half-hour of solid firecrackers ensued in the area, and after they died down a bit I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning was ChuYi初一, the first day of spring, and we ate the sticky rice dumplings for breakfast, and soon after the family went out to give a New Year greeting to Holly’s grandparents (who live behind her parents) and get her daughter’s red envelope filled with money. I think it’s really cool how I can see bits and pieces of holidays familiar to me in all of the traditions here (children getting their red envelope money kind of like trick-or-treating, eating all day much like Thanksgiving and Christmas, firecrackers like 4th of July…).
Although Holly and her family were incredibly kind and sharing, and I am happy that I experienced a countryside holiday with them, I really felt uncomfortable being there. First of all, they kept wanting to give me gifts and feed me like crazy and pay for my fare back to the city, but I know they are struggling to get by, and I hate taking from them. Second of all, while appreciating the attention, I kind of miss the laidback atmosphere back at holidays at home, and I felt awkward, like I was ‘on display’ the whole time or something. I know that any Chinese person reading this will probably tell me to ‘relax, this is Chinese hospitality, enjoy!’ but I think it’s easier said than done. To appreciate the gesture is a given, but to really feel comfortable and enjoy it is another that I’m not culturally savvy enough to master yet I guess…