A second reunion
A second reunion
Today marks the end of the lunar new year period - full 15-day celebration for the Chinese. Some Chinese families would choose to have a second reunion with family members on this day to mark the official closure of this period.
For the first time, my family chose to have a second time of reunion - for reasons apparent - that we don't feel that our first reunion dinner at the restaurant this year had been really a time of "reunion" (see my post on "Reunion dinner"). So in order to ensure that this second reunion dinner achieve its aim of a real "reunion" and a time of family gathering, we had a time of BBQ at home yesterday evening.
Just hours before the BBQ, God decided to send showers of blessings from above - so we have to shift the BBQ pit to the sheltered car porch area, instead of having it at the open-air side porch - though that area is much smaller, but I guess it created much better the warm, cozy feeling of family gathering - where all the small talks, laughter, fun and joy took place. Well, the cool weather does somewhat helps to ease off the heat of the dry spells.
I could tell that most of us enjoyed this time of reunion much better than our first one. My two brother-in-laws had such a great time over beer and small talks that they were so reluctant to leave even when the clock hits 2+ am in the morning =) We also took the opportunity to celebrate fifth sister's birthday.
For me, family holds the most important and dear place in my heart - they are people who knew all about us yet love us all the same ... people who stay right with us till the end when friends scatter away in moments of trouble ... people who made you feel a sense of belonging. However, the irony of it is that though we know about the importance of family ties and love our family - we are just too reserved to show our affections and appreciation to each other openly and frequently, isn't it? Well, at least that's rather true for very traditional Chinese families, like mine. Maybe this is one area we need to learn from the Caucasians - where there's no shyness in expressions of love and appreciation to our loved ones ...
Today marks the end of the lunar new year period - full 15-day celebration for the Chinese. Some Chinese families would choose to have a second reunion with family members on this day to mark the official closure of this period.
For the first time, my family chose to have a second time of reunion - for reasons apparent - that we don't feel that our first reunion dinner at the restaurant this year had been really a time of "reunion" (see my post on "Reunion dinner"). So in order to ensure that this second reunion dinner achieve its aim of a real "reunion" and a time of family gathering, we had a time of BBQ at home yesterday evening.
Just hours before the BBQ, God decided to send showers of blessings from above - so we have to shift the BBQ pit to the sheltered car porch area, instead of having it at the open-air side porch - though that area is much smaller, but I guess it created much better the warm, cozy feeling of family gathering - where all the small talks, laughter, fun and joy took place. Well, the cool weather does somewhat helps to ease off the heat of the dry spells.
I could tell that most of us enjoyed this time of reunion much better than our first one. My two brother-in-laws had such a great time over beer and small talks that they were so reluctant to leave even when the clock hits 2+ am in the morning =) We also took the opportunity to celebrate fifth sister's birthday.
For me, family holds the most important and dear place in my heart - they are people who knew all about us yet love us all the same ... people who stay right with us till the end when friends scatter away in moments of trouble ... people who made you feel a sense of belonging. However, the irony of it is that though we know about the importance of family ties and love our family - we are just too reserved to show our affections and appreciation to each other openly and frequently, isn't it? Well, at least that's rather true for very traditional Chinese families, like mine. Maybe this is one area we need to learn from the Caucasians - where there's no shyness in expressions of love and appreciation to our loved ones ...
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