AWWA.

I always have mixed feelings about Chinese New Year. Maybe it's because I'm not very close to my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents. First of all, there's a language barrier stopping me from communicating comfortably with my relatives. And then there's what I call the Asian Weight & Wedding Attack (AWWA). I guess I don't look forward to annual family gatherings because I always get called fat (it hurts even if it's true!) and always get asked when am I getting hitched since I'm now at the "marriageable age".

So I think, with the looming AWWA, I've lost sight of the true meaning of Chinese New Year. Perhaps it means something different to each person, perhaps it means more to some than it does to others - but the one universal meaning of CNY is the importance of family. I'm starting to believe that, despite the gloominess of AWWA, if I can be reminded at least once a year to appreciate the sacrifices that family have made for each other, it's worth it.

Therefore I think the central relationships that are valued in CNY are the parent-child relationships, such as between my parents and my grandparents, and maybe also between my parents and their siblings ... perhaps there's a lot in life that they have been through together that I haven't learnt to appreciate the nuances of, because I don't have any siblings. CNY may be scary for me with AWWA, but maybe for my parents, it's a time for them to treat their parents to a nice meal in a restaurant. I hope that when I have my own family in the future, and my own career, I will not forget to appreciate my parents.

Today's blog post was inspired by this tear-jerking Pepsi & Lay's commercial below: