樂齡會(AARP)馬州分會日前在Zoom以中英雙語舉行雲端「農曆新年慶祝活動」，邀請華人嘉賓講述他們與農曆新年有關的故事，活動發起人之一的劉綺君(Lily Liu)表示，借著中英雙語可連接老一輩和兒孫世代，讓每一代人都可分享。

     農曆新年是傳統中國人全家團圓的日子，曾在樂齡會工作20多年的劉綺君想到新冠疫情以來，許多年輕華人已好久沒與家中長輩相聚，為了傳承全家團圓的傳統，她與同在樂齡會工作的王申共同發起舉辦雲端雙語慶祝活動，並得到樂齡會馬州辦公室主任Hank Greenberg和執行委員會Jim Campbell的全力支持。

     美京華人活動中心常務副會長張麗芳分享的「除夕夜(大年三十)團圓飯」講述團圓飯上父親帶頭感謝母親一年辛勞的溫馨小故事；華府華文作家協會會長王志榮的「聖誕節與農曆年」以自身經歷述說聖誕節與農曆年的相似之處；華府華文作家協會副會長高霞的「牛年吉祥結」由12生肖傳統講起，解說牛年代表的意義；巴爾的摩國際學校的張曉霞則播放小朋友在雲端課堂過農曆年的教學錄影；王申也以圖文介紹了中國中央電視台的春節聯歡晚會。

     樂齡會是全美最大非營利及無黨派組織，旨在幫助50歲以上者自主選擇生活方式。

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聖誕節與農曆年  

    1988年是我來到美國的第三個聖誕節，也是第一次在美國好朋友的家中度過五天的聖誕假期，我發現歡度聖誕節與華人慶祝農曆新年有許多驚人的相似之處。

    聖誕前夕下午，我們在狂風暴雪中到達蒙大拿州的首府海倫那市，朋友的三位姐弟也分別搭飛機或開車抵達他們的父母家，晚上全家圍在一起吃團圓聖誕夜大餐。傳統的華人過農曆年，最主要的目的也是要全家團圓，圍在一桌吃團圓飯。

    餐後，我們去了一家朋友回家後必去的酒館，尤其是聖誕夜，她說這是不成文的規矩，所有當天回家的年輕遊子，都會去那裏，因為那時候還沒有電郵，更沒有臉書，到了那裏，就可以知道當天有那些朋友從外地回來了，交換過去一年大家的際遇。

    第二天，耶誕節一大早，每個人拿到禮物後，就去教堂作禮拜，而大部分的中國人大年初一會拿到裝有現金的紅包，然後大多會在家或到祠堂祭祖，或到廟裏上香，也是有類似宗教的祈福意義。

    由教堂回到家後，家中不斷播放著聖誕歌曲，歡樂的氣氛像極了中國年，只不過我們播放的是新年快樂的歌曲。整個下午也不斷的有客人來訪，開門第一句話，都是：「Merry Christmas！」然後才是一陣寒喧，他們大多是鄰居或外地回來的親戚朋友，這也像我小時候在眷村裏的過年氣氛，大年初一，一個接一個的叔叔伯伯嬸嬸阿姨和朋友，敲門拜年，開口第一句都是：「恭賀新喜」。

    中國人在過年前，家家戶戶都會準備好足夠許多天的傳統過年菜餚和甜食，使過年期間不需要為食物煩惱。在海倫那的五天耶誕假期，主人也是事先將晚餐的主菜如燉肉，燒雞等，都已經煮好後，分別放在不同鍋裏，然後全都放到門口陽台上，在華氏零下中結成冰，要吃的當天，再拿一鍋進廚房加熱，配上生菜沙拉，就是每天豐盛的晚餐。

    一轉眼，這麼多個農曆新年過去了，那第一個在美國朋友家的聖誕節，一直都被我視為在美國的意義上真正的第一個異鄉過年。

Christmas and Chinese Lunar New Year

Julian Wang (President, Washington Chinese Writers Association)(Transtated by Lily Liu)

    1988 was my third Christmas in the United States. It was also the first time I spent a five-day Christmas holiday in the home of a good American friend. I discovered that there are many striking similarities between celebrating Christmas and celebrating the Chinese New Year.

    On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, we arrived in Helena, the capital of Montana, in the middle of a heavy snowstorm. My friend’s three siblings also arrived at their parents home by plane or car. In the evening, the whole family gathered for a Christmas Eve dinner together. In the Chinese tradition, in celebrating the Lunar New Year, it is also important is to make it home to be with the entire family and gather around the table to have a Reunion Dinner together.

    After the meal, we had to make our way to a local bar, something, especially on Christmas Eve, my friend said she had to do. She explained it was an unwritten rule that all the young travelers who arrived home that same day had to go there. Back then, there was no e-mail and no Facebook, so once you got to that bar, you’d know which friends had come home. You could catch up on all that each person had experienced during the past year.

    The next day, early Christmas morning, after everyone had opened their gifts, the family went to church to worship. Similarly, most Chinese families on New Year’s Day would hand out the lucky red envelopes with money inside, and then most of them would enjoy being at home together, or go to worship their ancestors at a temple, a ritual like prayer in Western religions.

    After returning home from church, Christmas songs played all day long in the house, and the joyous atmosphere was very similar to ours during the Chinese Lunar New Year, except that in our homes we would play happy new year songs. Guests came to visit throughout the afternoon. The first words said when the door was opened were: "Merry Christmas!" Then there would be a burst of happy noise. Most of the visitors were either neighbors or relatives and friends who were visiting from other places. This was also like what I experienced as a child living in the military village in Taiwan. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, one after another, uncles, aunts, and friends knocked on our door to greet us in the new year. The first sentence out of their mouths was "Congratulations on the new year. "

    Before the Chinese Lunar New Year, every family would prepare enough traditional New Year dishes and sweets for many days, so that there would be no need to cook during the holiday. During those five days of Christmas vacation in Helena, the hostess had also made prior arrangements for the dinner entrees such as pot roast, baked chicken, etc., which were already cooked and placed in different pans. These pots and pans were then all put outside on the balcony. In the freezing cold temperatures, all the food would freeze. Then on the day a dish was to be eaten, it was brought into the kitchen and warmed up. All the hostess had to do was to make some fresh salad and there would be a delicious  dinner every evening.

    In the blink of an eye, so many Chinese Lunar New Years have passed. That first Christmas in a friends home in America has always been a special memory of the first time that I truly celebrated Chinese New Year away from my homeland. 

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