The Year of the Cow - Part 2

This Sunday I had the opportunity to spend time with my Chinese friends on the day before the Chinese New Year. I was invited to eat lunch with my friend Maggie, and her boyfriend at his grandparents house. Chinese New Year is all about family getting together and enjoying the company, and I was told it was a big honor to have a laowai(general name that Chinese call Westerners) spending time with their family. Upon arriving at the grandparents house, I was first surprised how simple the living conditions were. The house was concrete, with several large rooms, and few windows. My first thought was that it must be extremely cold in that house. Upon my arrival I was greeted with smiles and handshakes by all the family. I was offered a cigarette by Maggie's boyfriend's father, which I smoked with him. Its considered a loss of face, and therefore a social faux pas, to turn down the offer of a gift, such as a cigarette, from someone in China. I have smoked about 6 cigarettes in the past few months, as it is a common practice for a Chinese male to offer one to someone upon meeting them. During the dinner, which included traditional Chinese food such as pig face and chicken feet, everyone was interested in observing how I reacted to their food. I gamely smiled as I chomped on the bony chicken foot and the spongelike pig face, and my hosts (I sat between Maggie and her boyfriend, who I called Jeff) continued to heap food upon my plate. After dinner, I had a chance to give a hongbao(red envelope with money inside) to Maggie's (shy) niece. 

 

Later in the day, I went to my friend Vicki's house for a New Year's Eve dinner. The juxtaposition of the two families and their living conditions were somewhat startling. Vicki and her husband are members of the rapidly expanding Chinese middle class. They live in a very nice apartment, with a large TV(a source of pride) and enjoy many Western amenities. At the dinner, I had turtle for the first time, a delicacy that was especially prepared for the New Year's dinner. Vicki and her husband have a young son, who is one of the cutest babies I've ever met.