Growing up in Vancouver, Chinese New Year, or the Lunar New year, as I now need to call it because it's the new year for more than just Chinese people, is HUGE. When I first immigrated to Canada in 1988, there were virtually no Chinese people. My family and I were struggling immigrants, my parents worked hard to give my sister and I a home, clothes and toys. We were on our own save for the handful of people we knew and integrating into "white" society was how my family and I chose to survive. My parents spoke to my sister and I ONLY in English which in retrospect was a mistake as being multilingual will ALWAYS be an asset, but I think my parents were afraid that we would be ostracized just by the colour of our skin.
Thankfully, Vancouver was very open to all cultures and I wish now that we had spoken Mandarin at home. The closest I have to any Asian language is understanding child level Hokkien (kudos to those of you who know what that is!), but as Vancouver has gotten more and more Chinese immigrants, I have never been so acutely aware of what animal we are celebrating this year. The Lunar New Year is bigger now than I ever remember it in Canada and I can't help, but miss the small intimate family celebration we used to have just the four of us. I almost want to go to T&T and pick up all that food just for hubs and me!
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