Tag Archives: celebration

"I'm dancing in the streets!"

Happy New Years, Angry Black Readers.  It’s an ABLC tradition for me to write a Taiwanese New Year post*, so I would be remiss if I didn’t pen one this year.

It’s the Year of the Dragon in Asian people world, and no, I’m not late because the celebration goes for five days.  I have it on very good authority**, I’ll have you know.  Besides, Asians are late for everything, so in Asian People Time, I’m actually early with this post!

The Year of the Dragon is a very auspicious year in which to start up any major project.  The boldness of the dragon represents the boldness in which you have to approach the new year.  Remember, it is better to dream big and fail spectacularly than to dream small and succeed miserably.

In addition, the dragon is the symbol of the emperor.  This does not mean to live in a regal manner, however; it just reemphasizes the point that anything you do this year must be ambitious and worthy of an emperor.  The Year of the Dragon is not a year in which to wait or be indecisive.  If you have a dream that you’ve thought of accomplishing – this is the year.  No more excuses.  No more, “But but but but” sputtering.  Anything you want to do, do it now!

This includes romance, my dear Angry Black Readers.  If you have your eye on someone, now is the time to profess your love.  Again, don’t be timid about it.  Be confident and go up to your beloved, and say, “You, me, you, me, you, me!” while gesturing back and forth between you and your beloved.  I gotdamn guarantee that it’ll work. *** The sky is not a limit this year – it is merely a suggestion!
(Click for more Year of the Dragon goodness)

OK.  It’s the real New Year’s, and it’s time to party like it’s 1999.  You haven’t done New Year’s until you’ve attended a Chinese (or in my case, Taiwanese) New Year’s Party.  You get there at eight when the party’s supposed to start, and then you sit on your asses and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  Why do you have to wait so long?  Because Taiwanese people are always fucking late!  To everything!  It drove me absolutely crazy when I was a kid, so much so, when I was able to get places on my own, I would show up at least a half-hour early.

This is The Year of the Rabbit.  Traditionally, The Year of the Rabbit is a time for rebirth and fertility.  I’m not just talking making the babies, though that’s a part of it, of course.  It’s a year in which you should focus on your creativity and nurture it whenever you can.  The air will be pregnant with possibilities (and you just may be, too!  With ideas and kids, I mean), and it is up to you to make the most of the situation*.

When I was a kid, I attended the Evangelical Formosan Church in the Twin Cities (EFCTC, main branch, LA).   Every year, we would have to come up with a kids’ program for the New Year’s Party.  Sometimes, we would do a dragon dance like in the picture depicted above.  I was the teaser (the blue-haired guy, though I had green hair) so I got to hit the dragon with a fan.  There was no question of me being part of the dragon because I didn’t play any more nicely with others back then than I do now.

One year, I played Mina Turner.  I sang a Taiwanese folk song in Taiwanese (love lost, much drinking, the usual) as a rock song.  It was challenging, but kinda fun.  Fortunately, this was in the days before videotaping everything and uploading it to the YouTube was all the vogue so I don’t have to worry about me in my ’80s rocker gear on the nets any time soon.
(Click to jump to the new year with me)