Reflection

A Reflection

By Hong Wu
Director of Library, Information Services, and Academic Support

Lunar New Year is celebrated by one sixth of the world’s population! This year, it will fall on February 1st, starting a year of the Tiger. The celebration will last for 15 days until Lantern Festival.

Lunar New Year always brings back fond memories from my childhood in China.

When I was a child, food was scarce and Lunar New Year meant food. It would be a disgrace or bad luck not to have enough food at the beginning of a year so every household started to save and prepare months ahead. Chicken and fish were rubbed with spices and air-dried for months. Craving for nuts or candies? Wait for the Lunar New Year! 

New Year meant I would see Dad. Dad was always dispatched to work away from home, but he would be home for the New Year. The sight of him wobbling home on a bike loaded with local treats was one of the happiest moments of my childhood!

New Year meant gifts. Visitors would show up unannounced with gifts at our doorstep and Mom would insist they stay for a meal. This would go on for days. We children always enjoyed the feasts with exuberance while Mom cooked all day in the kitchen. Most of the gifts would be re-gifted and we didn’t have the slightest notion of keeping them to ourselves. Giving was a matter of life. 

New Year meant “pocket money.” Children would bow to elders who would in return hand over “red envelopes” with money. If the amount was substantial, it would very likely be “confiscated” by parents to be “repurposed.” 

Today, New Year still means food, gifts, pocket money, reunion etc. and they are in abundant supply, but the memory of my childhood New Year is the best and sweetest of all. It was a memory of hope, resilience, bonding, giving, and being thankful. They are bricks for the human fortress!

I can’t wait to celebrate Lunar New Year!