Happy Tiger Year!
Last Friday at city center we had our annual Chinese New Year dinner which happened to coincide with the end of the 2 week Spring Festival celebration in China. Lucy and I were the cooks for the meal but we had so many people coming in to help with chopping, washing, setting up and cleaning up. We made vegetarian chicken, Buddha's delight, Chinese greens and Mochi Cake for dessert. It was so nice to see how a feast brought the whole community together! In China we always celebrated with our small families of 5 or 6 people but here we were celebrating with about 100 people. It is very special to celebrate this special holiday with a big and sweet family here in America! Here you see Sebastian singing his new Chinese song with me at the table and little Kylie visiting us with mom Yuhuan and dad Ryan who used to live in the temple as residents.
After dinner there was a poetry reading in the back of dining room by Genine and Frances. Looking at the crowd, listening to the laughters in the room brought so much warmth and joy to my heart... I realize that i haven't cried and been homesick any more during Chinese New Year time for the past several years.