Happy Lunar new year! 農曆新年快樂！

Time flies, and I’m once again making those traditional rounds with Mom and Dad. This is how the schedule goes every year:

New Year’s Eve –
Dinner at Grandma Weng’s house.
At 21h30, come home to rest for an.
At 22h30, we head out to the three Taoist temples that Mom and Dad have been going to since they were kids.
We go to Longshan Temple, the Mazu temple in Bangka and Xingtian Temple to burn incense and pray for another happy, healthy and prosperous year. By the time we return home, it’s around 3h00 and everyone’s exhausted and smelling of incense. This is a tradition in Taiwan, and in the video clip, you can see hundreds of people milling about temples, and this is in the middle of the night!



時光飛逝，又到了農曆過年了。
每年過農曆年，我都陪爸爸媽媽走例行行程。
每年都是這樣走的：

除夕 –
到奶奶家吃年夜飯
21h30回家休息一小時
22h30出發到三間爸爸媽媽從小每年過年一定會去的廟寺
去龍山寺，媽祖間，行天宮燒香拜拜，為新的一年祈福
回到家，大概凌晨三點，大家都累昏了，也全身香味

More pictures from temples here.

New Year’s Day –
Sleep in to recover from the exhaustion accumulated over days leading up to the holidays, including the midnight temple rounds.
Lunch at home with Mom and Dad.
Afternoon and dinner at Uncle Cody’s with Musketeers and everyone takes turns playing majong, smoking, drinking wine and tea, eating mandarin oranges, pumpkin or watermelon seeds while chatting. This lasts until a little after midnight.

Second day of the new year –
Sleep in to recover from previous night’s exhaustion.
Lunch at Grandma and Grandpa Lin’s, bringing entourage consisting of Lucky, Miffy, Oreo and King.
Shopping at Costco for things needed for dinner.
Dinner and party (majong, karaoke, smoking, drinking, etc) at home with Musketeers until the wee hours of the morning.

Third day of the new year –
Sleep in to recover from previous night’s exhaustion.
Occasionally, I’ll wake up and find an uncle here and there, who was too drunk to remember what happened the previous night.
Lunch and dinner at Uncle James’ with Musketeers and everyone takes turns playing majong, smoking, singing karaoke, watching DVDs and chatting away until the cows come home.



大年初一 –
睡晚一點，為過年前累積的疲勞和前一晚因為拜拜而晚睡recover
和爸爸媽媽在家吃中飯
下午開始與其他Musketeers在Uncle Cody家party和dinner
大人輪流打麻將，抽煙，喝茶，吃橘子，啃瓜子，聊天
這大概持續到半夜

大年初二 –
睡晚一點，昨晚玩太晚，喝太多，要補眠
中午帶著Lucky, Miffy, Oreo, King到外公外婆家吃飯
到Costco採購，準備晚上的party
晚上Musketeers搬來家裡打麻將，抽煙，喝酒，喝茶，唱歌，聊天，吃飯
持續到三更半夜

大年初三 –
睡晚一點，昨晚也是玩太晚，喝太多，要補眠
有時候我醒來還會發現這邊那邊有一些昨晚喝太多忘了會家的Uncle在呼呼大睡
中午開始就到Uncle James’家繼續party party party
麻將，唱歌，看DVD，也是到三更半夜

Fourth day of the new year –
Sleep in to recover from previous night’s exhaustion.
Play it by ear.

Fifth day of the new year –
Wake up at a slightly more decent hour.
Prepare to go back to work.

初四 –
睡晚一點，昨晚又玩太晚，喝太多，要補眠
看看當天想怎麼過

初五 –
稍微正常一點的時間起床
收心，準備要上班了

My parents and uncles are party animals. I can’t keep up and mainly because I can’t stand smoking (it makes me cough; even hours after taking in their second-hand smoke, I’m still coughing) I can’t play majong, drink or sing with them, so I’m always searching for a quiet, smoke-free place to relax, read my book or go on the Internet, but usually to no avail. I reckon I should hide. Otherwise, just like last year, I’m going to end up more tired at the end of the break than before the break. I don’t want to get sick again, especially not after a six-day holiday. MUST REST. MUST EMPTY BRAIN.


爸爸媽媽和Uncle們真的好瘋狂，我真的跟不上。
另外，主要是因為他們抽煙
(煙會讓我咳嗽，好幾個小時前吸他們的二手煙，我現在還在咳嗽)，
我沒有辦法跟他們打麻將，聊天，唱歌，
所以我永遠都在找安靜，
無煙的地方放鬆看書或上網，
但是通常這種地方很難找得到。
我應該要躲起來，不然就又要跟去年一樣，
休假後比休假前還累。
六天休假完馬上生病感覺真是不好 。
不行，一定要休息，一定要讓我的腦袋淨空。