lost in translation

today is the first day of chinese new year, the year of the rabbit.  last year at this time i was in taiwan visiting my family there, celebrating the new year with traditional foods and noisy fireworks.

chinese new year to me means family gatherings, wishing each other health and prosperity, the color red, lots of food, and alot of commotion.  sometimes we may have fish, 年糕 (nian gao), sticky, cake-like "pudding," taro or turnip fried cakes, mandarin oranges (2 for good luck), or snack on pumpkin seeds or 肉干 (ròu gān), dried meat that is similar to jerky.  as kids, we were often given 红包 (hóng bāo), red envelopes that were filled with money.  and when i was in chinese school, we would participate in a big new years performance that consisted of several traditional dances, plays, songs, and of course, the lion dance.

these customs were known to me as a child, but not entirely understood.  my parents and family were always really open to sharing these practices with us as we celebrated year after year, yet the reasons behind these rituals were not expressed (or perhaps i wasn't listening hard enough).  as i've grown older, i've picked up a couple things here and there, though i wonder about what i've missed as an ABC (american-born chinese), what my dad used to call me.

for instance, the language itself can not be literally translated.  when i'm trying to explain something to my non-chinese-speaking husband, like a joke my aunt or uncle has told in mandarin, the words come out sounding funny in english as if they are out of order.  example:  if we take the simple greeting of 新年快樂 (xīn nián kuài lè), it means "new year happiness."  word for word, it's not precisely right, but also not entirely wrong either.  just different.

lately i've been keeping a log of the stories and tidbits of information my parents share with us about life in taiwan before immigrating to america.  there is so much there that my sisters and i still don't know.  it seems there is symbolism in everything when it comes to chinese customs, but only recently have i come to grasp some of them.  this scares me alittle bit; i worry about not only my generation, but future generations... how much longer before these cultural traditions are lost?

i guess it is up to us, the ABCs, who are part of both worlds, hybrids in a way, to live it, love it, and share it -- to pass it on, like sacred gifts or shiny red envelopes -- as customs come to be.