Being Chinese

I ventured downtown to shop for the Chinese New Year dinner we're having on Saturday. Even though I'm Chinese and I grew up in a [suburban] Chinatown, I felt completely overwhelmed as I shopped in a small cramped Boston Chinatown grocery store on a icy and frigid day. My family typically celebrates the new year with a hot pot dinner, some lemon chiffon cake for dessert and of course, red envelopes. We're clearly not super observant since we celebrate Chinese New Year whenever it's most convenient so I actually celebrated last month when I was in LA. In fact, plasticmom and company celebrate at least twice a year, pretty much whenever someone comes home for a visit...it's "Chinese New Year."

Understandably, I have no idea what other Chinese people actually do for Chinese New Year and I was utterly baffled when I came across this huge display of new year type foods packaged in a lot of red at the market this afternoon. I considered buying some new year themed sweets, but then I realized that I had no idea what this stuff was nor did I have any desire to eat it. After I lugged all my groceries home gingerly treading across giant frozen sheets of ice formerly known as a sidewalk, I called plasticmom in a mild panic. After 11 years in New England, had I lost my "Chinese-ness?" Thankfully, plasticmom [who is Chinese] assures me even she is sometimes baffled by her suburban Chinese supermarket and has, at times, purchased the wrong item. I feel so much more Chinese and much better.