For several months I've been thinking about what I should blog about since this being the first blog 'club' I've been asked to contribute. And as exciting as it is I thought since its my first post on my first blog then I better have something profound to say. But the more I thought the more complicated it got and here I am months in and no post. So here goes nothing...
Even though my kids technically are 2nd generation, I really want my kids to know Chinese/ Hong Kong/ Taiwanese culture. Mostly because I was brought up that way and it wasn't necessarily a choice it was just simply how it is.
Every year for Lunar New Year we get together at my in laws place with my sister in law and family, my mom, and my sisters family to have a big New Year's Eve dinner. I think it's a great way to get together with close family and celebrate. My mother in law makes a lot of dishes including all the lucky foods such as fish, fat choi, vegetarian dish with ginkgo nuts vermicelli veggies dish that's my favorite, stewed pork hock (ti bang), duck or chicken, lobster, and various other things. My mom usually cooks black mushrooms or her sticky rice and my sister in law always makes their family recipe nian gao (sticky sweet rice cake) in which she usually puts a twist in it and makes it with mochiko or something japanese.
In addition to all the food which of course is a big part of the culture too, I think Chinese New Year is about family being together and about multiple generations getting together.
The kids usually dress up in traditional colorful Chinese clothing and all get red envelopes. Yay! Although they would really rather get candy or toys. Haha.
I hope that we will continue to have this tradition. I think it would be so wonderful to be able to take our kids to Asia during Chinese New Year someday and celebrate the festivities there!
So how about you? Do you have any traditions that reflect your culture that you upkeep so that your kids can also learn about too?
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