nathan chow:

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Chinese and Lunar New Year!!!!!!!!

Today (February 13th) marks the eve of the first day of the Lunar New Year in 2010. Although it is celebrated by most Asians, different countries have different ways of celebrating it. In this note, I can tell you only about the Chinese ways—and in most cases, the traditions, beliefs, and practices I mention are the ones that just my own family has passed down and kept.

Also, instead of writing an essay this year, I decided to present this note as an array of tidbits on Chinese culture that are easily dipped into (although the note is best read beginning to end):

The Zodiac

- The Chinese Zodiac cycles through 12 years, each one associated with an animal. Your year of birth determines your zodiac sign and personality.

- Today is the first day of the new year of the Tiger. Tigers are born in 2010, 1998, 1986, 1974, etc. and are known to be brave, competitive leaders who are charming and well-liked.

Food, Family, and Community

- Meals are always considered a joyous time for community and bonding. The Chinese value food and community mealtime so much that “Have you eaten yet?” is often the very first thing asked after a hello in any conversation. It’s the equivalent to the American “How are you?”. In very traditional villages, it’s a sin to let anyone—even strangers—eat alone.

- In Chinese restaurants, especially “dim sum” restaurants over a weekend, community and family values are very evident:
- The restaurant is often an extraordinarily huge open space in which everyone can see everyone. It’s as if we lose our sense of self and become part of the community.
- Each table is always round, stressing the importance of sitting in a circle.
- Tables with families often have all three generations present (the elderlies, the adults, and the children), illustrating the importance of family togetherness. In contrast, people of the same age often go to restaurants together in America.
- Dishes are served “family-style,” meaning they’re placed in the middle for everyone to share. The Chinese also serve others before they serve themselves.
- “Dim sum” translates to “to your heart’s content”—maybe because patrons point, pick, and choose dishes to their heart’s content.

- But while gathering together for a meal is important even on an ordinary day, it is considered almost sacred during the New Year’s Eve dinner. So many families travel to see their relatives just to eat with them that the days surrounding Chinese New Year are known as the world’s largest annual human migration, with more people traveling than during the winter holiday season worldwide.

The Nian Monster and “Gung Hay Fat Choy”

- The famous phrase “Gung Hay Fat Choy”—which people say to mean “Happy New Year”—actually literally translates to “Congratulations and Be Prosperous.” Congratulations on what?

- According to an ancient myth, the Nian monster (”Nian” translates to Year) was an ugly dragon that came out in the winter to eat people and livestock. Soon, villagers discovered that it was afraid of the color red, loud sounds, and light. When people were lucky enough to survive another cold winter and another Nian / Year, they were congratulated—hence “Gung Hay Fat Choy.”

- Over time, traditions to start off the new year have evolved, but most have their roots in scaring off evil spirits and the Nian monster: wearing red, passing out lucky red envelopes with money, leaving the lights on for the first night of the year, and watching traditional dragon and lion dances accompanied by loud drums and loud, red firecrackers.

Lucky Number Eight, Hair, and Prosperity

- The word for the number “eight” (baat or bat) in Chinese sounds similar to the word for “prosperity” (faat or fat), making it the luckiest of all numbers. That’s why the Asian supermarket chain in Boston is named Super88 and not any other random number. It’s also why the Chinese decided to have the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony on 8/8/08 at exactly 8:08:08 local time. It’s THAT big of a deal.

- (Not really related to prosperity, but just pointing this out: The number “four” is the least lucky Chinese number because it’s a homonym for “death.” When it stands alone, it is unlucky, but if it is paired with another number, the phrase can change. “49″ means “dead enough,” “48″ means “die prosperous,” and “45″ means “can’t die.”)

- The word for “prosperity” is also a homonym of the root word for “hair” (tuw faat). For fear of washing away their prosperity, the Chinese do not wash their hair on the first day of the new year and for fear of cutting their prosperity, they do not cut their hair in the first few days following the new year.

The Role of the Elderly and Dead Ancestors

- Aging is a positive thing in China (although Americans might think we never physically age.. hehe). Age goes hand-in-hand with social status, power, and command for respect. A word for “old man” (gong) is the same as the word for a god. (For those of you who are Cantonese, think of “gong gong” the maternal grandfather and “ley gong” the thunder god.)

- When older relatives die, the Chinese believe they have power over the living. We depend on them for good health, fortune, and prosperity. We bow to their shrines, leave food out for their spirits to eat, burn fake money so they could use it in the afterlife, and address our prayers TO them—not have prayers about them. Indeed, dead ancestors are treated like gods. Again, it’s all about the power of family.

- Unlike American homes with lots of photos of children and the new generation, Chinese homes have lots of photos of and even shrines for grandparents and great-grandparents.

- Interestingly, even though New Year’s is the biggest and happiest holiday in China and funerals of grandparents are one of the saddest occasions, New Year’s and funerals share a few traditions.
- Just like how we do not get haircuts in the beginning of the new year, we also do not get haircuts for 49 (whose homonym is “dead enough”) days after an elderly’s death.
- The two main occasions in which red envelopes (”hong bao” or “lai see”) with money are passed out—especially from adults to unmarried children—are the New Year and at funerals. During the New Year, the amount in each envelope is always an even number, while at funerals, it is always an odd number. It perhaps illustrates the contrast between happiness and the death of an ancestor.

American New Year vs Chinese New Year

- Chinese New Year is a time to recognize once again that it’s not about me. It’s about us. It’s about eating together and being together with living family members. It’s about how well I’ve remembered dead ancestors throughout the year to be able to get new blessings from them this year. It’s about family and community.

- Right before the new year begins, the Chinese clean their homes, buy new clothes, and get haircuts to start anew and get rid of bad spirits. Being proactive is found right before the new year. Being reactive is found after the new year begins.

- When the Western New Year begins, it is about a newfound sense of determination in achieving individualistic goals, while the Chinese New Year is about a renewed sense of commemoration and remembrance of family and dead ancestors. It’s all about people together, not individuals.

- While Americans get things done on their own, the Chinese slow down just to hope for things from others. Americans become proactive, while the Chinese become reactive and open to receiving more blessings like happiness, good health, and wealth from dead ancestors.

- Influenced by Buddhism and Eastern religion, we recognize that to be happy, all we need to do is sit back and be thankful for what we are Given. After all, there’s nothing more worthy of gratefulness than surviving another Nian—another Year—and still being on this beautiful planet with family, friends, and community.

——–

So to all my family and friends who celebrate Chinese New Year or any other Lunar New Year, I wish you all the happiest new year possible.

Be healthy. Be happy. Be prosperous. Be hopeful. But most of all: Be grateful.

GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!!!!!!!! XIN NIAN KUAILE!!!!!!!! =)

(And yes, that would be a lucky 8 exclamation points.)

Love Always,

Nathan

tuesday 3/25/08

i hosted danny and chris overnight. i showed them the fitrec (guests are always impressed with it), then we played pool in the GSU basement. we each had our own table and raced to see who could get all the balls in first. we.. all.. sucked..

later on we met up with giselle again so she could show them the performing arts house in south campus. both my guests were interested in BU’s theater program, but other than one acting class i took, i didn’t know enough about it, so the people at the house really helped out a lot by talking about their experiences in CFA.

late at night, we hung out in another overnight host’s room with a bunch of other people. danny and ashlie, who i just met, taught me enough sign language to say inappropriate things.

thursday 3/27/08

every month or so, BU dining halls have a special theme night or a visiting chef. some reeeally delicious theme nights in the past were lobster night (yes, every student got a lobster), western bbq night, and chinese new year night (last year’s was a lot better than this year’s).

tonight was a visiting chef night, where they served food from a famous boston restaurant – this time, toro, a spanish restaurant in the south end. i had: (most of these descriptions are from their menu)

- juicy smoked beef
- a mini kobe hamburger with smoked tomato, alioli, and pickled red onion
- a grilled and buttered cob of corn
- toasted bread rubbed with tomato and garlic, finished with spanish olive oil – a totilla espanola (egg, potato, onion omelet)
- churros con chocolate (spanish fried dough with chili infused chocolate sauce)

i’ll be willing to say that the churros con chocolate was one of the top 10 things i’ve ever had in my life. i’m kinda desperate to go to the restaurant and order just that.

it’s nights like these that make BU’s dining halls some of the best in the country. mmmm.. i go to college to eat.

saturday 3/29/08

i went to bombay cafe for dinner with mike c., katie, sabrina, sabrina’s boyfriend will, and katie’s friend danika. i had the chicken saagwala, which was spinach mixed with chicken. the “nan” bread was good to dip into the bowl of chicken covered heavily in sauce. we actually had to pay for the nan, but the waiter gave us seconds for free. the food was better than average, but the serving sizes were relatively small, especially for their prices.

at night i went to the BU dance marathon, which is an 18-hour dance to raise money for camp heartland (camp for kids with AIDS) and the elizabeth glaser pediatric AIDS foundation. i was there as a visitor for only 2 hours, but some of my friends – stephanie s., vanessa s., gabby, brooke – were official “dancers” there for the whole 18 hours. i was originally registered as a dancer, but i couldn’t make it for personal reasons. anyway, when i showed up, a bunch of my friends told me that i was called up to the stage before. i asked one of the volunteers why, and she said someone had a make-a-wish for me to irish step dance??!!

monday 3/17

one of my professors ended the 3-hour evening class early and proposed a class trip to uno’s. originally it was supposed to be a pub (since it’s st. patrick’s day) but one student was underage. it still made my day.. maybe my semester.. when the professor said “let’s go to the Dugout and finish talking about the midterm over a pint”.. haha.

my green shirt blends in with connie’s blanket. iris: “where’d nathan go? oh my god, he’s camouflaged!”

tuesday 3/18

nap party with titi and stephanie b… (don’t even ask)

wednesday 3/19

i had lunch with sarah, kayla, and amy for the first time in a while. kayla told us her starfish story.. lol.

thursday 3/20

i day-hosted eve and blessing in the afternoon. blessing’s family actually came along on most of the tour. when we got to agganis arena, eve and blessing asked what the long line outside was for. it was mostly middle school and high school girls screaming.. so i knew it wasn’t for one of BU’s sports games. i said “i don’t know”.. and then my friend michael b. randomly came up to us and said “the jonas brothers are here!” i had no idea who they were, but eve and blessing got excited and started taking pictures of the jonas brothers’ van and everything. that was an easy way to end the tour on a good note.

free malaysian food, thanks to the asian student union. the food was really good, especially the stick of chicken and the sauce i put on the rice. i sat with maria, camilo, titi, and yue. melody wasn’t at a free food night! *gasp*. i also finally met jessica, who i’ve always seen at these types of events.

when you go up in line, they ask if you want the fried rice or the white rice. most people request the fried rice. when camilo came back to our table with his second serving, he had a big plate of white rice. he was like “if you ask for the white rice, they give you more.”

friday 3/21

me: how do you know josh?
michael c: we’re both in engineering. how do you know him? oh wait, he said you know everyone in myles.
(true enough.)

i finally decorated my dorm wall with photos of family and friends. amy was working in the mail room when i got my package of photos.. haha.

marisa was finally at dinner! i’ve been missing her cups. (we already talked about how that doesn’t sound right.)

saturday 3/22

i went to titi’s get-together in her dorm. i got a chance to hang out with stephanie c., maria, camilo, jordan, liz, and a bunch of others. i also met a lot of titi’s friends and some students from berklee.

during the party, we played a movie association game. someone named a movie, and anyone else had to name another that’s connected in some way (in theme, has the same actor in it, is directed by the same director, or has a similar title). then someone else has to name another connected to the newly named one. one rule is that you can’t repeat any movie that’s been said.

i think i was the only film major there, but i was probably the worst at the game. everyone is so much more in touch with movie pop culture than i am. i usually watch “art films” and foreign films, not hollywood blockbusters. most my associations were for directors and themes.. and the former was hard whenever people listed popcorn movies by no-name directors.

anyway, the game went on for nearly two hours. i wasn’t playing towards the second half. instead, i went to talk to the berklee kids cuz they seemed left out (they came in late and weren’t playing the game). after a few minutes, i noticed a silence from the people still playing, so i asked them what movie they were stuck on. they said “six”.. and i assumed they already listed all the easy connections like “the sixth sense”, “se7en”, etc. so i yelled out “two girls, one cup”.. and basically i ended the game cuz no one wanted to talk after that! haha

the dining halls served chinese food today for chinese new year. the spring rolls, shui mei, and dumplings were good, but the chicken and beef were just ok. i wish they had duck, roast pork, and soup with black mushrooms, cabbage, and bean curd sticks (which is best when made by mom).

after dinner, i spontaneously followed sarah w. and marisa to the BU choral society’s “Spring POPS Concert” at CFA. we ran to catch the bus. well, actually we walked really fast. well, actually that was only me and marisa. sarah was probably busy preparing her next post-it weapon to use against me.

at the concert, i heard kayla, amy, and kelly sing (twice, cuz i was the only idiot who walked in on the rehearsal lol). all of them were awesome. i sat with sandy s., sarah, erin, marisa, and scott.

on the bus ride back to east campus, i had a staring contest with kayla and marisa. they couldn’t come close to winning. =P

later in the evening, miguel helped me videotape my juggling for a video project. i used my 3.2 MP digital camera’s video function and windows moviemaker to make a video for a 500-level post-production class… sad but true. i was mac-less, footage-less, and camcorder-less and couldn’t borrow a camera from COM or find time to use an editing suite. nonetheless, thank you so much, miguel!

i went to a little (reeeally little) jamaican restaurant called Ortanique near harvard square for lunch. i went with my food buddies mike c. and katie, and mike also brought sabrina. we had an adventure walking there after getting off the T. the food at ortanique was delicious and relatively cheap. i had a three-meat sampler and chose the jerk chicken, ox tail, and escabeche fish.. the dish also came with rice and plantains. not only was the food good, but the service was great as well. the food was served in under 10 minutes and the owners were incredibly friendly.

i’m trying to visit as many ethnic restaurants in boston as possible. if you have a recommendation or would like to go somewhere with me, let me know! =)

at night i went to the Salsa Gala at the Cambridge Hyatt with a bunch of my hispanic friends and their friends. i also bumped into vanessa and her friends. i walked home with jen and erika, two of the many new friends i made. today’s episode is brought to you by the word friend.

jen: did you know all those people you danced with?
nathan: yeah.
jen: oh, we thought u were just really good at picking up girls.

by the way, jacqueline and i were the only non-lame people for dancing the whole night instead of sitting in the lounge or leaving early.