Bohemia Bunny

New Year Hangover Part 1

February 12th, 2008 by lynnylchan under My Life

Not the type you’d expect, too. Not a single drop of alcohol passed my lips. Not even wine (I don’t like it), beer (ditto) or shandy. Instead I drank Kickapoo, Sarsi and loads of Chinese tea.

So what’s the hangover from? Try having literally dozens of relatives descending on your house simultaneously. My mother is very fond of playing hostess, and we don’t adhere to the hierarchy of the younger ones visiting the elder ones, so people just congregate on our house. After all there are 15 days of Chinese New Year, with 2 big meals daily, so imagine how many houses you could visit.

It wasn’t only my dad’s side who came visiting - my mum’s vastly larger side of the family came as well. My mum has 6 sisters and 1 brother, my dad only has 3 siblings. However, this year the Chan side got the reserve team to boost the score - my dad’s cousins came visiting. My grandpa’s younger brother, I’m told, has 8 or 9 children. These 8 or 9 kids, along with spouses and kids, all arrived in a giant convoy. *faints* I think my mother is now an expert in cooking for crowds.

Chinese New Year is actually a very good time to dig around in the family closet. While some people hate the enforced socialization with relatives they see only annually, I like having them around. I can’t remember who’s who, and I don’t know which kids are whose, but it’s a psychological comfort to know that here are others, with the same provenance as you. And because everyone is busy comparing how well everyone else has got on, a little bit of prodding can get you very far.

More to come!