新年快乐! Happy Chinese New Year!
CNY is traditionally a bittersweet time for me. I’m usually not at home, usually not with my family, and usually right in the middle of mid-term season — the ideal setup for celebrating the most important holiday in my culture. The news is reporting that China comes to a nine-day standstill for celebrations; I’m on my way to my next midterm.
Every year, however, there are things that make it better. Having a Chinese community at university, for instance. Last year, a group of friends and I gathered in one of the dorm kitchens and made 年夜饭 (CNY Eve Dinner or Reunion Dinner) together. The year before, my local friends invited me home, and we had home cooked Chinese food and played cards until the AM. This year, being in Rome, I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to have the same experience.
Luckily, Rome has its own celebrations. In the few days before the new year, I was shopping in an Asian supermarket near what people call the Chinatown of Rome, when I saw this poster:
The festivities on the weekend after the new year were massive. Coincidentally, the Sunday that I went to the festival was also the day of welcoming the God of Wealth. Unfortunately, I was too busy watching the dragon dance to get photos, but it felt like almost all of Rome came out to celebrate the new year. There were all sorts of food, from 包子 (baozi, steamed buns, which incidentally has the same first character as my last name), meat skewers, to 饺子(jiaozi, dumplings) and everything in between.
And luckily, I had my friends. We had our CNY Eve Dinner at a local pizza place, which felt like the perfect encapsulation of my semester, and then we celebrated CNY by going out to Chinatown and getting Chinese food from a local malatang place. The annual 春晚 (China’s Spring Festival Gala, which has become a tradition of its own) was broadcasting on the TV behind us while we ate. The food was delicious, but beyond that, I felt incredibly fortunate. I had warm food in my belly (and a bonus for it being food from my culture) and friends by my side. I was wearing new clothes and I was wearing red. I even got digital red packets from my family. Despite being 9,661 kilometers from home, I was home.
Studying abroad in Europe, especially as a person of color, sometimes feels isolating. I remember being at a bar near my dorm, when, after I sat down, another patron of the bar said from behind me, “Are you Chinese?” in Chinese. When I turned around, she had that same gleam in her eyes that I know I sometimes get — the desperation to connect with someone from home and the exhilaration of the chance meeting. But CNY is a time of community and of celebration. Rome, and the people in Rome, made me feel that.
So, 祝大家马到成功，鸿运奔腾！(Wishing everyone the best and good fortune!) The translation does not do the saying justice. Regardless — Buon Capodanno Cinese and happy Year of the Horse!
