school at ISB and we are back on vacation for Spring Festival - a
celebration of the Chinese New Year of the Dragon. It feels much too
cold to call anything "Spring", but maybe warmer days are on the way.
This being our first New Year in Beijing, we are intruiged by the
stories of non-stop fireworks and street parties that we hear, and I
am we will have our own stories to tell when the Lantern Festival
draws the New Year celebration to a close next week. We are planning
to spend Sunday(New Years Eve) and Monday(New Years Day) in the city
taking in the festivities and fireworks in Wangfujing.
Li Xiu Lan departs today for a two week venture to her home province
to visit her people with her son and husband. Today she gave Hong Bao
to the boys, and despite feeling rather clueless about the whole
procedure - amount of the gift and when to give it - we did the same
for her. The process is laden with traditions and rituals which we
are just starting to learn, so I hope we only sent good luck her way.
Fortunatley we have a reliable network of local aquaintences who often
assist us when we reach an unfamiliar cultural boundary. Ayi,
despite the language barrier, is our number one go to for help when we
need to figure out what to do in situations like this, but I couldn't
exactly ask her how much to give her for her own gift. Driver Tom has
also bailed us out more than once when lost or in need, and he even
helped me navigate the process of securing split bamboo fly rods from
a far off province for my dad and his friends. In the case of the
Hong Bao, however, I acted on the advice of Li Laoshi, my Chinese
teacher. A few months ago Joanne introduced me to Li Jing, and ever
since I have "stolen" her time away from Joanne. On the occasion that
Jojo can sneak away from work for a bit, we get to take class
together. During our joint lesson yesterday, Li Laoshi explained to
Joanne and I that we should give Ayi her Hong Bao in a red envelope.
We knew that this was expected, but when we suggested that we put
400RMB in the envelope, Laoshi shot back, "Oh no, not 4, that is very
bad luck," she explained that 5 or 3 is okay, 8 is very good, but 4
sounds like death. "Si" means "4", the word "si" also means "death".
In my study, I conclulde that the "also means" is the biggest
hinderance to my understanding. Just when I think I know what I am
hearing or saying, Laoshi says, "well, that also means..." UGH!
Hanyu fei cheng nan!
We are excited to be taking in the New Year with Granny, and we have
been doing our part to scope out every restaurant in the area in
preparation for her next visit. We will be hosting Granny and her
crew of great friends when they venture to Beijing in April. We've
checked out sushi at Haru, Burgers in the Atmosphere Bar on the 80th
floor of China World, Jiaozi and Baozi at Din Tai Feng, rissoto at
Tavola, and plates of Zhongcan at various spots for which I can not
say the names. We've even tried falafel at Bitapita and had a cold
pijo at Hard Rock Cafe, but the other night while we had a blast
playing a family game of hangman on the paper tablecoths at the Union
Street Grill, our check came - 888RMB. Pricey yes, but the fun, the
family and the 8s can only mean good luck in the year of the Dragon!
Happy Year of the Dragon and Ba Ba Ba to all!
No comments:
Post a Comment