Tuesday 31 December 2013

a wonderful NYE :)

It required a little bit of a warm up. But I listened to my body. My body was tired from an impromptu 17km (split by an hour) jog yesterday. It needs rest, my joints are sore. So, instead of going out and partying, I decided to stay at home with my parents. Best. Decision. Ever. Who better to spend NYE with than those two who love me more than any words could describe! Their whole lives are based around me and my brothers. They have so much love to give! Of course, I get frustrated at many little things that they do, and I have the worst temper around them..but we found this lovely equilibrium between entertainment and bonding last night.

At first, the volume was a bit too loud on the telly, and mother simply wanted to watch Korean dramas. After I was a bit of a sook, they realised that my intention was to spend time with them and chat. We ended up YouTube-ing One Direction as Dad search for "best song". We watched Mr Bean which was wonderful because it brings back super memories of my childhood. We grew up on Mr Bean episodes. Learnt that there were actually 14 episodes made over a period of 7 years from 1989 until 1995 which is the year that I was born up until the year my youngest brother was born! Coincidence? :)

We looked through the http://www.gaginang.org/ website checking out some nursery rhymes, and reading up on some festivals. Learnt that Chaoshan encompasses a few areas including Chaozhou and Shantou. My maternal grandfather is therefore from Shantao (Puning), not Chaozhou as I have thought over the years. Most of the population of Chaoshan have a native dialect of Chaozhouhua, but a small proportion are Hakka. I'm not sure why my ancestry fascinates me so much, is it human nature to be interested in your own background? Where you come from? Is it a part of figuring out who you are?

My aunty, uncle, cousin, and middle brother ended up being home for the countdown. It was really lovely to be around such loving individuals who are so important in my life. It was a very relaxed atmosphere, and I feel it was quite profound even in it's simplicity. It just comes to show that my priorities have changed, as I am now much more focused on growing and cherishing my family relationships. There is too much love there to deny them the quality time and care, and I gain so much from being around them. There definitely is room for me to grow and mature as I learn to deal with the teenage angst that from time to time is triggered despite being 7 years adult now. But, I can't wait to see how far I will have come next new years!

It sort of resembles this, but it was just round, and full of Gu Chai. Mother and I ate some just as she was about to head off to bed...but her enjoyment from consuming this pink savoury snack that my aunty had made earlier, woke her up and she suggested we stay up for the midnight fireworks :)!



:)

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