Author: Pixie

Chinese New Year is coming up in a few days and while we are genuinely very happy to be able to gather all our family members in one place and see everyone again, there’s just a little niggling thought at the back of everyone’s minds, making the celebration less enjoyable than it actually is. Whether you’re worrying about your relationship status, or the traffic you’ll have to face going back to your hometown, here are a few ways you can celebrate CNY without stressing out!

1. Invasive Relationship Questions

We all have that relative that never realises how quiet the room gets whenever they ask relationship questions- which, let’s face it, is every year. While we understand that it may just be them asking out of concern for our futures, or just to strike up small talk, it’s still not fun to be put in such a situation.

Here’s a solution: the usage of fake boyfriends and girlfriends. I kid you not, there are actually services out there where people would sell what’s essentially a fake identity to help you with your nosy aunt. If this is exactly what you’re looking for- a companion without the complications of getting emotionally and physically involved- you can start searching for your new boyfriend or girlfriend on Craigslist, Facebook, or, if you live in Asian countries, you can visit Pally Asia’s website, where you can not only get a partner for Chinese New Year, but also a coach for becoming a barista, a gym buddy, or just about any kind of companion for any occasion!

Otherwise, if renting a boyfriend or girlfriend isn’t your cup of tea, you could either be honest and tell them about your situation, or be a silver-tongued speaker and tactfully lead them away from the topic. Here are a few common questions and how you can answer them.

- When will you get a boyfriend/girlfriend?

There are a few ways you can handle this question. The first would be to joke about how there aren’t enough hours in a day to keep a partner and that you have too much work to do, and steer the conversation away from relationships to a funny story that happened at work, or a New Year’s Resolution to get a better job. Another way to handle this would be to answer honestly, and then ask how your relative met the person they’re currently with or seek advice.

- When will you get engaged/married?

Again, there are a few ways to answer this question. The first would be to assure them that wedding plans are underway, but there are no solid details yet, and swiftly change the topic to how difficult it is to manage an event or to a funny story at somebody else’s wedding. Another would be to be honest, and ask for advice.

If you’re feeling particularly devious, you could also download an app that will make it look like someone’s calling you, and leave to pick up the call.

2. Traffic

I remember listening to my mum and dad grouchily complaining about the traffic whenever we had to go to a faraway place to celebrate CNY, and it’s absolutely understandable. Nobody wants to be caught in a fourteen-hour jam, no matter how fun your companions are. Here are some tips that you can use to avoid the worst of traffic this year.

Instead of going to your hometown the same day as everyone else, you could take a day off work or school and travel earlier. It’ll save your time, money (for gas), and one hell of a headache. In stark comparison, if there’s no way you can go a day earlier, you could try travelling late at night. Chances are, there will be lesser cars on the road at 3 a.m. as compared to 3 p.m. Stay close to brightly-lit roads, however, to lessen the risk of accidents occuring.

To make the journey less arduous and tiring, one could also try carpooling with friends or family headed in the same direction. It’d make the trip a lot more fun and lively, plus you could also agree to alternating drivers if anyone gets too tired. Taking public transport, such as trains or planes, is another option worth considering, especially for those who absolutely detest traffic jams. However, you might have to book tickets in advance as there may be many other people with the same idea.

A good tip to follow would be to do some research on places that are commonly congested in your area and avoid them the best you can. If you’re going for a long journey, you could also plot the roads that you’ll be taking in advance so that you could avoid taking the wrong road and avoid the worst of the traffic.

3. Diet

This is the year we stick to our New Year’s Resolution to keep a healthy diet- no matter how many cookies our relatives shove in our faces. Easier said than done, right? Well, if you absolutely need someone to keep you in check, you could call up a friend or relative who has similar goals and help keep each other from the temptation of breaking your careful dietary plans. Better yet, plan out an exercise routine with them, and go jogging or swimming every morning or evening- that’ll ensure you go through the new year healthily!

Besides that, you could also try the old trick of drinking water before each meal, or to use smaller plates when you eat. It has been proven that drinking water helps increase metabolism, which will burn more calories, whereas smaller plates help some people automatically chomp up lesser calories. There are many little tricks to help you take in lesser calories, but not every trick would work on everybody, so it’s important to go through trial and error to learn what works for you personally and what does not.

To keep yourself from sneaking sugary Chinese New Year treats, you could also try bringing small packs of healthy snacks such as raisins or dietary crackers around with you, so when you get the munchies, you can chomp on these and avoid giving into the cravings.

4. Finances

If you’re already working, every once in awhile, you will also get hit with those finance-related questions. While this may not be an issue to the person asking, it may be a tad too personal for you. Worry not however, as there are several ways to answer such questions and squirm out of the situation in no time, be it with a little misdirection and humour or just by being honest!

An example of questions that may be asked would be the typical ‘How much did you earn/bonus did you receive last year?’

The answer to this question depends on how comfortable you are with the asker. If you’re not comfortable divulging that information, you could try to divert their attention by joking about how there is not enough money in the world to compensate for dealing with a difficult situation at work, and proceed to tell them about it. However, if you don’t mind, you could also opt to be a bit more transparent and give them a salary range, or just ‘above xxx amount’.

On the other hand, if you’re married and have to give out ang pows, and are worried about how much you have to give, there are several ways to calculate how much you have to give. Some people give a fixed amounts to different people every year, regardless of the economic state. Others however, increase or decrease the red packet money they give out every year depending on how good a year it was for them, finance-wise. One thing to remember is that the new year isn’t all about ang pows, but about being with family, so regardless of what amount you’re giving away, what’s important is that you spend the time with the ones who really matter.

5. Family

While this may not be a problem for some families- every family is different, after all- many families face the problem of not being able to hold a conversation for very long. Perhaps it’s the generation gap, or maybe the advancement of technology that has everyone on their phones, but regardless, if you feel as if the togetherness spirit just isn’t there, you could try these few methods to remedy that situation. (If you’re anything like me and you’re socially awkward around most people, this list comes in handy as well)

Instead of asking too many personal questions, perhaps you could prepare a list of neutral but interesting topics to talk about. Arts and entertainment is a good topic- asking someone about their favourite movie, or if they liked the recent song dropped by a well-known celebrity, is always a good way to get to know someone better, especially if you’re something of a movie buff, or music critic yourself. Otherwise, asking someone about their work (what they love and hate about it) or their schooling (which major they chose and why) are also great ways to start off a conversation.

Topics you should avoid however, include talking about mundane topics, such as the weather, or more personal questions, such as relationships or finances. Where possible, it would also be best to ask open-ended questions instead of closed-ended questions, so that the conversation wouldn’t be awkwardly cut by a simple one word answer while you scramble for another thing to talk about.

Otherwise, when the reunion starts getting awkward, you could bring along some board games or a deck of cards to play with your family. It’s be best if the games you bring needed many players for it to be fun, so that more people in the family could participate in the game. It’s also a good idea to bring games that all ages could participate in, so that neither the younger children or the older adults would be left out.

So have a happy Chinese New Year! We hope this has helped you out of stressing too much over meeting your entire family, and that 2019 will be a great year for you~