Wherever You Are

You don't know, you can't know, not really. Not until you're far away from home on Chinese New Year, nary a firework nor CNY tune to be heard much less the sound of family; you know that sound, the TV running in the background, mahjong tiles clinking, children running and laughing, and always, always the constant chatter about anything and everything (and everyone) interrupted only by the crunching of CNY cookies. Its always noisy. Even in the early hours of the morning there is no real silence; the dishes call out to be washed because there are always dishes to be washed if you're always eating, the old house creaking and groaning under the weight of all its occupants, the joss stick smoldering silently on the altar as your grandparent's watch you grow up from the portrait on the wall... And there's a certain kind of peace in all the noise, one that you don't appreciate until suddenly everything around you is quiet.

CNY 2009

"You won't understand but you will learn someday, that wherever you are and whatever you face, these are the people who make you feel safe in this world..." -White Wine In The Sun, Tim Minchin-

And with that I say, Happy Chinese New Year everyone... wherever in this world you may be.