Bumbliibeedoes family still exist?
October 1st 2006 08:10
With a blink of an eye, Chinese moon festival is again fast approaching...Chinese moon festival is on the 15th of August following the Lunar calendar...which means its this Friday...I love moon festival because of all the lanterns and moon cakes...It is believed that on this day the moon is the roundest and brightest..
Today i went to a celebration in China Town and there were soooo many ppl there...i like celebrations like these because they make me feel so happy and warm...as i looked at old couples holding their walking sticks, making their way thru the crowd, it hit me, that moon festival wasnt all about moon cakes and lanterns...but also family...thats the thing i enjoy most...it makes me feel lucky to be chinese because of all the festivals we have that are centred around family...im not saying this in any discriminative way whatsoever, but the chinese culture focuses so much on family compared to the western culture...for example....New Years eve in the western culture is so focused on partying and young people...How many of u have walked down the streets of the city on new years eve and found people jumping around like crazy smelling of alcohol...I must admit, im one of those ppl too...which really makes me wonder, are we really there to celebrate the new year? or is it just another excuse for us to party?, is life so boring, that we need to make excuses for excitement?...i remember when i was small, my parents use to take me out to Darling Harbour, in Sydney to watch the new year fireworks, but i always cringed at the fact that we NEVER stayed back for the midnight fireworks, instead we watched the nine o'clock one and went home...my parents use to tell me its because at midnight too many ppl get drunk and it gets dangerous for little kids like me to be running around the streets...now that i'm older, many ppl tell me that the nine o'clock fireworks are for families, and like most ppl my age, i skip the family fireworks and wait up for the midnight ones...y is it that there must b a distinction like that?..yes, i know kids sleep early, but its upsetting to think that the feeling of unity and family doesnt seem to exist anymore...on the other hand, chinese new year is less about party and more about family...it is a tradition to have a family reunion (this is where "red pockets" come in handy)...family members exchange blessings for health, beauty, fortune, knowledge...etc...we pray at temples to wish for luck for ourselves as well as family...we have fire crackers to ward off the past year and welcome the new...we have fireworks at midnight for everybody at the temples (which means no alcohol)...and no, the temple is not boring...just because there's no alcohol and no partying or loud screaming does not mean it is boring...you get to see smiling faces, children laughing, grandparents blessing the younger generations, strangers coming up to you to wish you luck and health and most of the time you end up talking to just about anyone who is stuck in the huge crowd next to you...even tho it may take a whole hour to get from one side of the temple to the other, i find myself still smiling....dont get me wrong tho, im not a boring person, i actually enjoy the western new year because im still young, and young people like to have fun and party...but sometimes i wonder how my new years would past wen im old and lonely and no longer belong to the party scene, will my grandchildren give up their night out to have dinner with me?.....
....i guess there's always christmas.......
Today i went to a celebration in China Town and there were soooo many ppl there...i like celebrations like these because they make me feel so happy and warm...as i looked at old couples holding their walking sticks, making their way thru the crowd, it hit me, that moon festival wasnt all about moon cakes and lanterns...but also family...thats the thing i enjoy most...it makes me feel lucky to be chinese because of all the festivals we have that are centred around family...im not saying this in any discriminative way whatsoever, but the chinese culture focuses so much on family compared to the western culture...for example....New Years eve in the western culture is so focused on partying and young people...How many of u have walked down the streets of the city on new years eve and found people jumping around like crazy smelling of alcohol...I must admit, im one of those ppl too...which really makes me wonder, are we really there to celebrate the new year? or is it just another excuse for us to party?, is life so boring, that we need to make excuses for excitement?...i remember when i was small, my parents use to take me out to Darling Harbour, in Sydney to watch the new year fireworks, but i always cringed at the fact that we NEVER stayed back for the midnight fireworks, instead we watched the nine o'clock one and went home...my parents use to tell me its because at midnight too many ppl get drunk and it gets dangerous for little kids like me to be running around the streets...now that i'm older, many ppl tell me that the nine o'clock fireworks are for families, and like most ppl my age, i skip the family fireworks and wait up for the midnight ones...y is it that there must b a distinction like that?..yes, i know kids sleep early, but its upsetting to think that the feeling of unity and family doesnt seem to exist anymore...on the other hand, chinese new year is less about party and more about family...it is a tradition to have a family reunion (this is where "red pockets" come in handy)...family members exchange blessings for health, beauty, fortune, knowledge...etc...we pray at temples to wish for luck for ourselves as well as family...we have fire crackers to ward off the past year and welcome the new...we have fireworks at midnight for everybody at the temples (which means no alcohol)...and no, the temple is not boring...just because there's no alcohol and no partying or loud screaming does not mean it is boring...you get to see smiling faces, children laughing, grandparents blessing the younger generations, strangers coming up to you to wish you luck and health and most of the time you end up talking to just about anyone who is stuck in the huge crowd next to you...even tho it may take a whole hour to get from one side of the temple to the other, i find myself still smiling....dont get me wrong tho, im not a boring person, i actually enjoy the western new year because im still young, and young people like to have fun and party...but sometimes i wonder how my new years would past wen im old and lonely and no longer belong to the party scene, will my grandchildren give up their night out to have dinner with me?.....
....i guess there's always christmas.......
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