CNY is coming.

how many of you guys dread cny.

i'm beginning to not look forward to it.

you just feel like running again.

maybe because i'm getting older,

and the fact that i can't really communicate with the family.

I read the papers today,

and there was an article written by Sumiko Tan.
(I love reading her articles btw.)

"So close, yet so far"

She wrote:

"I like my relatives - it's just that I don't know what to talk about when we meet during the Chinese New Year"

I can really relate to her feelings.

Like you're really glad that the family can come together as a whole once a year finally,

but the thing is,

what do you talk about?

"So do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?

where are you studying?

what are you going to do after ITE?
(aka, what are you gonna do with your damn life.)

when are you getting married??"

always these few awkward questions,

and they may just come out with these questions to fill up the silence.

but how much do you really know them?

you may know each others family secrets,

and have to pretend you don't know and act normal.

"so how many of us are actually comfortable with our families.

many of us are closer to our friends and colleagues than any of our cousins."

my family members are nice,

don't get me wrong.

they are always ready to help.

but it always gets awkward because you're at a loss of what to say when you meet.

"Still - and this is a big still - we do it, year after year,

not because we really like it,

but because this is what families do.

Because, in the end,

blood is really thicker than water.

I can criticise my relatives and they me,

but woe betide strangers who do it -

and that is perhaps what links us cousins,

aunts and uncles together,

forever.

Have a happy Chinese New Year."

--

I'm just glad that I'm finally not alone when I feel like that about my family.