Away from home..

Oh my goodness.. This is gonna be my first time being away from home during Chinese New Year. I hate this so much. I have barely 10 students in my university who is Chinese and no one in the whole university would know that it IS CNY!!! Imagine!!!

Argh.. In Malaysia, we have a week of holiday for school children and even that we complain that it is not enough. Though most chinese schools would take a longer holiday for the students though they tend to have to pay it back by going to school on Saturdays but over here.. no one gives a damn that it is CNY!!! It is like every other day here.. We still go to class. The world still functions normally. No CNY songs blasting around in malls and markets, no red decorations filling shops everywhere, no CNY songs playing on radios, nothing. No oranges in supermarkets. No banks giving away ang paus to random people.

Nothing.

No CNY spirit at all!!! Argh.. I miss all those.

THough I do not come from a super traditional family where all rules are followed before, during and after the CNY, but I love my culture. I love having the anticipation that the New YEar is coming though we celebrated the New Year a month ago. I love buying new clothes and keeping it until the first day of New Year. I love getting together with my extended family to have dinner the night before CNY even though I was never close to them. I love waking up early, (ok, not that early) and going to my grandmother's house to gather together with the whole family. Though I don't really love sitting around the house doing nothing but I love eating just 'zai' (vegetarian) curry in the morning of the first day of CNY. Though kinda awkward but I love pouring tea for both my parents and getting big ang paus from them. I love going down to Malacca after going to my father's side of the family to visit my mother's sisters. More Ang Paus for me then! I love going around Malacca and finding our favorite food hoping that they are open during the CNY!

I love having the happy feeling all around me during the whole duration of the New Year knowing that we are celebrating CNY at that moment and everything is bright and festive!

Now, I wont have anything to remind me that it is CNY. All I have is me. I have to be festive myself. All alone.

My family will be back in Malaysia without me.

No more traditions with my family because I'm halfway across the world.

Argh...

Though I finally managed to find someone to do something with me on Wednesday night. Johnie, A Singaporean guy will do steamboat for a few of us. Wooo-hoo!!! That is gonna be so fun!!! I'll feel at home again.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone and for those that are able to be with their family, CHERISH IT!!!