For me, last friday night was full of new experiences. I was invited to a friend's 18th birthday party. Due to her heritage and the date, she decided to base her party on the Chinese New Year. We were instructed to wear red and gold, the lucky colors, we removed shoes when we came into the house and her family even came over to prepare an authentic chinese meal including traditional birthday and new year dishes.
Me being as white as white can get, the Chinese New Year experience was very new to me. The week before the party I was apprehensive about a variety of things, what the food would be like, the traditional formalities that would be used, and also the fact that the other people going werent really good friends of mine.
As the night progressed I quickly lost all nervousness. The oppurtunity to emerse myself in another culture was really awesome. I learned the meaning behind all the traditions and even found out what my name is and what it means translated in chinese. We made our own spring rolls, ate with chopsticks, ate birthday noodles ( which are really long, spicy noodles that represent long life), greeted each other in chinese and laughed, we laughed alot. Oh and the part about be standoffish towards the other guest, I couldnt have been more wrong. I have gone to school with the group of people there for 10 years or more but have never given them the credit they deserve.
It was a learning experience, and I am so happy I was included. I could have easily have chosen to skip the party and give into my apprehension but I didn't. Now I know I need to give everything a fair chance, because who knows when you'll stumble into something wonderful.
