Well the holiday season is over, and I am not all that disappointed. Months of celebrations have come to an end as January draws to a close. This last holiday, Chinese New Year, has been the one to do us in. This holiday is billed as a traditional time of cultural memory and filial piety. It could more accurately be described as pushing crowds and tourist traps. Chinese New Year may have also been the holiday that put us over the edge because it lasts a whole week. This how our week went.
Thursday We visited a seasonal flower market to pick up some festive floral decorations for the house, but ended up spending the time dodging drunken revelers stumbling home.
Friday & Saturday Quiet days at home. Ran a few errands. Needed more of these.
Sunday On New Year's Eve, we went to eat a traditional meal at an aunt's house. We were warmly received and fed, and we watched a silly countdown on TV with more synchronized dancing and some singing I would rate as “early round American Idol.” On the way home we were treated to a few more drunkards going home. Watch your step.
Monday The next afternoon we went out to a Chinese New Year football match headlined by Korean and Czech teams. The games were exciting even though the 40,000-seat stadium was at only 30% capacity. The games ended with penalties and as it was a tournament and the teams were tied at the end of the regular five shooters, they continued through the 11-men rosters until it came time for the keepers to shoot – pretty thrilling stuff even if you’re not a diehard football fan. Our next venture was a significant departure from our earlier enjoyments. We caught a train across town to watch the tail end of the biggest parade of the year. Instead of lots of traditional costumes and decorative floats we spent about an hour being in a 10-person deep crowd being pushed from all directions by some of the least charitable humans I have encountered in a long time. If someone could explain to me the logic of one old lady elbowing her way around a man with a stroller to be similarly crushed in 1.5ft ahead, I would really appreciate it. My normally passive-aggressive nature was overcome, as I couldn’t help openly chastising 2 people pushing from the middle of a crowd, despite the low likelihood they understood what I said. It really was one of those moments where you realize the great bulwark simple courtesy is against mindless selfishness. As soon as we got out of the crowd, we took a circuitous route to a farther train station in order to avoid as much of the crowds as possible. Once home, we sat silently in front of the TV for an hour or so, occasionally muttering comments about the depravity of humans in general.
Tuesday After the night before, we thought we would try something simpler and smaller and went to visit a department store across town, which turned pout to be closed for the holiday. That evening we hid out from the crowds and watched the melodramatic story of a very dumb dog stuck between two buildings rather than watching the big fireworks show at the harbor.
Wednesday Having sufficiently licked our wounds, we tried another big event. The main race track in Hong Kong hosted 80,000 people for the New Year’s races. We watched as people handed over what was later reported to be 1.4b of accumulated wealth ($10 of it ours) to the track and the race organizers. Good to know the recession hasn’t hit all sectors of the economy.
Thursday A new mall farther from the traditional touristy corridors was our plan, but we were unable to escape them entirely. On the train ride home, we traveled right through the heart of the tourist area, resulting in our being farted upon and one tourist attempting to stand between my knees as I sat. Bear in mind, compared with train service elsewhere in Asia, this experience was downright luxurious. Add to that the fact that I was made fun of for my coffee order (yes, I know I am a coffee snob) and at the boulangerie we tried I made the staff awkward, prompting the response, and I quote, "Go, sit down." I think I have all the elements for a teenage, angst-filled emo song.
Friday We traveled across town to greet a family friend visiting from the US. This kind soul brought us a suitcase full of niceties from friends and family in the States and upon delivery promptly began to share the story of the trouble with her sciatica and her bulging disc. “Sorry. Here’s some chocolate” was the best response we had.
Hopefully next year’s holiday season will involve significantly less pushing crowds, shoppers pulling items out of your hand, and farting tourists. Maybe, this will be one of those experiences we look back on later and say we just didn’t know what we were doing and walked into the worst situations, unintentionally avoiding the really great stuff, which just happened to slip by unnoticed. You have to have something to hope for, even if it is far fetched.
