Happy new year!

When I was living in Hong Kong back in the early 90s, Chinese New Year was the holiday: Thanksgiving, Christmas and July 4th all rolled into one. The town completely shut down for about a week, and flights were booked solid. While local folks went to visit family on the mainland, we gwailos would often take advantage of the break to explore other parts of Asia (if we could get a flight, that is) or to just enjoy the town during a quiet period, much as some New Yorkers take to the streets of a largely tourist- and local-free Manhattan over Memorial Day weekend.

These days, I don’t do much for Chinese New Year, but one thing I can count on is the annual email from one of my former colleagues. The Christmas letter/email has become commonplace in America, and many such letters tend to be either tedious, fatuous or both. This former colleague, who always sends his message out just ahead of Chinese New Year, is a major exception. His emails include just enough information to keep me up to date about his activities over the previous year, without lurching into the boasts, bravado and bombast so common in these yearly exercises. Most of all, his emails make me feel like I’m still a part of his extended family, even if we haven’t spoken in a decade. So, Kung Hei Fat Choi, Bao Anyou! It wouldn’t be Lunar New Year without you.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 18th, 2007 at 8:42 pm