My mom wanted to do a traditional Chinese New Year Eve this year because, as she put it, she may not live long enough to pass on the tradition otherwise.   (She’s so fatalistic.)  She even made sure to leave me a voice mail with instructions on what to do before going over there.  Shower before blessings to cleanse off the old year and start anew.  Wear red undergarments for luck.  Wear red clothing for luck.  The only red undergarments I have presently are not parent-appropriate, but I wore them anyway and sent a cameraphone picture to Jordan, who wanted to know if I was going to follow all my mom’s orders.  Jordan threatened to post the picture of me in my red undies.  =P

We went over to my parents’ house at 3p yesterday and I was surprised she actually decked the inside of her already-Asian house out for the occasion.

From the simple stuff, like flowers…

(A saying in Chinese calls daffodils mistaken for common garlic bulbs before sprouting, but revealing their secret splendor in bloom. These flowers are therefore symbolic for, to use an American colloquilism, a diamond in the rough.) 


(classic Chinese ‘mums)

…to red paper poetry and symbols on the doorways and walls…

 …to an actual ancestral altar.

food offerings to our ancestors from both my moms and my dads side
(food offerings to the ancestors on both my mom’s and dad’s sides)

It smelled like a Buddhist temple in my parents’ house when the incense sticks were lit.  We each (Mr. W included) held an incense stick and bowed three times, thanking the passed-on relatives for the blessings of the past year.  My dad went as far as to burn “Hell Notes,” paper money as offerings to our loved ones on the Other Side.
Dad at least had the good sense to do this outside.

Dad at least had the good sense to do this outside.

It was interesting for Mr. W to learn the meanings of all the symbolism, such as why the word “Spring” and “luck” are put on the walls upside-down.   You’ll see them on the fish tank in the photo above, and on the cabinets.  (The Chinese word for “inverted” is dau, which is pronounced the same as the word for “arrived,” so to put Spring dau and to put luck dau is to announce that Spring has arrived, and good fortune has arrived.)
And then there was feasting.  My mom’s dishes were all traditional and symbolic, too.  Dumplings that represented gold ingots to bring in wealth, uncut mustard vegetable in soup for longevity, ten kinds of vegetables cut into one dish/casserole to symbolize perfection, all blessings for the new Year of the Ox.
I think there were at least 10 dishes, plus desserts and appetizers.

I think there were at least 10 dishes, plus desserts and appetizers.

After dinner, we played a traditional gambling game involving four dice thrown into a big bowl.  Traditionally, children were allowed to gamble on New Year’s Eve because it helps keep them awake all night.  Why should they be awake?  Superstition has it that the longer a child stays awake, the longer life the child’s parents will enjoy.  My aunt came over with her buddy and the six of us played for hours.  It was fun to see my parents and aunt laughing their butts off, mostly at themselves because they can’t remember whose turn it is, and what number the dealer had thrown that everyone else had to beat.  They were just being silly, but it was weird playing with them and their short memory spans.  This morning this aunt’s daughter texted me “Happy new year! I heard that you all gambled last night!”

I texted back, “It was a scary experience last night to see how short their memory spans are. It was like playing dice with goldfish.”

But they were all eating, drinking, and being merry, which is what this is all about.