An American Celebrating a Chinese Holiday in Cambodia

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Good luck in this, the year of the DRAGON! Grrrrr!

Yeah this past weekend was Chinese New Year. Cambodia has a pretty big population of people who come from Chinese descent, so although the Khmer Government does not observe Chinese New Year as a national holiday, many people do celebrate in some form or another.

I knew something was up when I came home from Ba Phnom on Saturday night. There was a chicken seller at our house. She was holding the live chickens upside down by their feet, and discussing the price with my oldest sister. She bought two chickens and put them under a little bamboo cage for the night. I said “alright, so what are the chickens for?” My sister said “Chinese New Year!”

The next morning I didn’t leave my room until like 8:30 (pretty darn late). When I did leave my room, I saw that my oldest brother, Borun, was setting up a rice mat on our living room floor, while my oldest sister was decoratively organizing plates of fruit. So I plopped myself down to watch the action.

One by one my family brought different foods and drinks to place on the mat on the floor. My sisters got up super early to do all this cooking. There was a Chinese soup, Chinese noodles, fruits, muffins, rice, cakes, and the 2 chickens bought the night before- roasted whole (head and legs still intact). There was also beer, some soda, a little vodka, and some juice.

Then it was time to pray. My sister (who I believe has some Chinese in her blood) was directing the show. Everyone had to take their turn praying at the rice mat 3 times. The food and drink was being offered to the families’ dead ancestors. There were 6 cans placed on the edge of the mat, each one representing a different relative.  Behind each can were 2 glasses. To pray, you must sit with your legs to the side, and your hands in a prayer position in front of your face. Between your hands are sticks of burning incense- one for each can. You pray out loud for those family members. When you are done, you stick the incense in the cans, and then pour a little vodka and beer in each glass.

My family also spent some time praying and offering food and incense to the “Buddhist house,” or little shrine that is in every Cambodian’s home. That is where I heard my sisters praying for me, which was sweet. They prayed for my luck, health, and happiness, and that I would always have delicious food to eat.

I did not burn incense this time. I was just an observer this time around.

After everyone had prayed three times, we took “paper goods” outside to burn for our ancestors. And I quite literally mean paper goods. For my sister’s grandfather, we burned a paper shirt, a paper box of cigarettes, a paper razor, paper sandals, paper glasses, etc. For her grandmother we burned paper gold and jewelry. For everyone we burned more paper gold and paper 100 dollar bills. I guess the idea is that this stuff goes to the spirits of our ancestors while they are waiting to be reincarnated.

Finally, after the burning party, reminiscent of a teenage girl’s boyfriend gift burning party, we took some of the food out to the porch outside and feasted! We moved all the chairs to the side, sat on the floor, and filled out bellies. The Chinese soup and noodles were particularly delicious. The men finished their meals and left quickly, I don’t why. So it was just the three ladies. My oldest sister pulls out the beer and goes “alright, we’re getting drunk.” I was like- fantastic, it’s not even noon yet. She handed each of us a beer and told us to drink it as fast as we could.

I lost. Third place out of three. Which is actually impressive, because I know for a fact that I have a higher tolerance than both of them. But I just couldn’t “bottom’s up” like they were doing haha. So yeah, we sat around for a few minutes, drunk, and then- my sister declared nap time! What else would you want to do after downing a beer?

I actually napped! I ignored my sweating pores and managed to get a few minutes of real napping! I very rarely can nap during the day in Cambodia.

The rest of the day was spent just sitting around doing nothing. For dinner, leftovers.

Chinese New Year is a 3 day holiday. Chinese-Khmer students and teachers took off from school (without permission). About ¼ of my students were absent in each class. That is actually a lot better than I thought it would be. I thought no one would come. Well, I am not Chinese, so although it was still Chinese New Year, I went to go teach whichever students were dedicated enough to show up.

I came home for lunch. Leftovers. Again. And let me remind you- there are no refrigerators in Cambodia. That is when my sister told me more about the customs of Chinese New Year. Apparently, for three days you’re not allowed to do ANY work. That explains why the chairs were never put back upstairs, and the empty beer and soda cans were still strewn all over the floor. You are not allowed to clean the house, do the laundry, cook, or even wash the dishes. When she said that, I instantly looked down at the plate I was eating off of- that I ate off yesterday- and would have to eat off of the next 2 days.

Unfortunately, I was at a really desperate point with my laundry. Washing my clothes that day was essential. My sisters were a little upset that I was doing laundry, but I told them it was really unavoidable. Then, when I was bringing my soap and hamper to my room, I accidentally spilled laundry detergent on my floor in my room. Being a poor and crafty Peace Corps volunteer, I decided that meant I had to scrub my floor, so as not to waste the soap. You can wash floors with powdered laundry soap, right? Well, it was something that also needed to be done. But once again my sisters commented on my non-chinese-ness.

Eventually, my sister also broke the Chinese-no-working rule. My brother (her husband) said that he was afraid that if I eat that Chinese soup every day for the full three day, I would die. He didn’t want to kill his foreigner, so he had his wife cook me some new food by the third day.

            A part of me actually wonders if my sisters made up the no-working rule. I feel that’s likely, but that’s totally fine. They deserved the break more than anyone.