So Chinese New Year is kinda around the corner, and you know what, religion does play a part in celebrations of such festive occasions. In a way, you could call it cultural influence.

See, most chinese families would do their spring cleaning before the new year and well, follow along with the chinese cultural norms like reunion dinners and Yu Sheng [Lo Hei]. However, being a Christian chinese family has its, shall we say, unaccustomed traditions?

I'm a kid caught between two differing cultures. See, my dad's side is very traditionally chinese. It could be due to the fact that they're Buddhists and most of the religious festivals they celebrate like the 7th month and stuff. On the other hand, my mum's side of the family are mostly Christians, and since it's usually seen as a Western religion, they don't celebrate that much of Chinese cultural festivities.

Thus, during CNYs, I go to my grandma's house, that is, my dad's mother, and exchange greetings with the family - the people you see once a year, and on the way there, you spend five minutes furiously remembering who is who, and then regurgitating out all that you've memorised to whoever you meet.

One stark difference between both sides of the family: my dad's side plays mahjong, my mum's side plays blackjack. As you know mahjong's a rather Chinese game, and blackjack, its popularity is growing within the West now. So there you have it, two sides, two different cultures caused by two different religions.

What about me? I'm a hybrid i guess. I'm a Christian who celebrates Western religious festivals, under the notion that Western means Christian, yet on the other hand, I play mahjong and can swear well in Hokkien which most Westerners would be unable to.

A Chi-tern or a West-nese? I have no idea.