For a decent celebration

While Ling is singing Mo Li Hua in a foreign land, I am here celebrating Chinese New Year and studying for finals at the same time lol (which is really torturing by the way). I guess both of us finally got to learn Mandarin in our own ways. Ling went for classes while I was stuck in a community where the majority speaks Mandarin. And most of the vocabulary I learned were mostly symptoms and medical related words like cough, vomit and blood. We shall see who speaks better Mandarin! :P

Talking about Chinese New Year reminded me of an old lady who came to the clinic for a follow-up and to get her gout medication. She seemed like any other patient except that she was insisting to get a letter written to the welfare department. Nobody knew why until we started asking. She cried. The patient cried knowing that New Year was coming and she did not have enough money to have a decent celebration. Everybody kept silent for a moment and tried to console her. Not only she did not have enough money but she will be spending this new year alone. Honestly, I did not know how to make her feel better. The only thing I could say is "Don't cry. Don't worry. You can talk to us". Then, she said, "How can I not worry?" Realising that I have probably made her felt even worse really sucks. She continued crying. :(

I sincerely hope she will enjoy this new year and have a decent celebration. Being in a position where I can still celebrate new year with my family, I am glad to be at home despite having the need to study for finals at the same time. Many of us don't realise how lucky it is to have the opportunity to study for a better future and have a family to spend with until we meet the least fortunate.

Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year people! :)