Justin did a ton of research on the history of the holiday and we had HUGE plans. I mean, epic in my brain plans. I was going to learn how to cook authentic Chinese food from scratch. What dishes? Every single one. Dim sum, Cantonese, General Tso's, 100 other dishes I've never heard of, and everything in between. We were going to be in the kitchen for hours.
TOTALLY REASONABLE PLANNING.
Justin talked me down from that plan. By which I mean, I said it and he said... "no"... and walked away. So we ordered Chinese food instead. We are beginning to eat healthier again - paying closer attention to our diets - so the Chinese New Year feast was kind of like going out with a bang (that pun will become apparent shortly). We ordered SO MUCH FOOD.
Yup. All the food...
I know that doesn't look like a ton, but there are only two of us. I'm writing this on February 3rd and we still have about 1/3 of it left. We got Peking duck, meat dumplings, sesame chicken, beef lo mein, green beans with pork, chicken fried rice and crab rangoon. I know what you're wondering - was the crab rangoon any good? Yes. It was not as good as China Gate's, but nothing is as good as China Gate's and it was much better than... not crab rangoon. So it counts.
According to Justin's research, we were supposed to stay up all night to ward off the beast Year from attacking us and preventing prosperity in the new year. We had every intention of staying up til dawn and not eating any meat after midnight because of what we'd read, until we talked to BFF Hop, who explained that what we found was really NOT what happens.
It would be like finding a website about Christmas that said people cut down their own trees in the forest and then went to several masses, concluding with midnight mass and then went again in the morning on Christmas day. Do some people still do that? Well, yeah, I'm sure - but most people chill with family, hit one service if they're religious and then have a bunch of Santa fun going on at the same time.
So, what were we actually supposed to do if we wanted to be authentic to how people celebrate it nowadays? BFF Hop recommended wearing red (check), eating Chinese food (super check), lighting fireworks (semi-check) and exchanging red envelopes (check in name only). So we're doing pretty okay, right?
NOPE. Turns out, because Texas is dry this time of year, there are these things called burn warnings, which means no fireworks purchases. We theoretically could've, like, planned ahead of some shit, but how boring is that? Instead we decided "hey, fuck it, I'm sure we'll be able to buy small grade explosives on short notice - we're in Texas for God's sake". While I was at work, Justin drove to every place we'd seen a fireworks stand in the last few months and found.............. nothing.
Did that stop him? OH NAY NAY. Not my adorable hubbypants. He improvised. He found sparkly birthday candles, birthday poppers and confetti guns. BEST. CHINESE. NEW YEAR. EVER.
LEGIT.
Stone cold confetti-er.
...and I'm totally not trying to hard right now...
The confetti guns and poppers were perfect -- they were loud, but not so loud they would upset the suburban balance in any way. They had just a little powder so there was a satisfying flash along with the pop and we got to feel all festive and whatnot.
The holiday was absolutely delightful. It struck me that it is very much like Christmas in the morphing of traditions and the size and scope of the celebrations. We celebrated quietly at home, but I've lived in neighborhoods with lots of folks who observe the holiday before and the block goes nuts - cars line the streets and fireworks go off for hours. It is really neat. It is easy to have a very American view of the world and not realize just how big certain holidays are around the world. It was really fun to take part in a holiday that we often overlook, but that is the central focus for hundreds of millions of people.
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