I hope your holiday spirit is in full swing. We finally got our Christmas tree last night. We bought an eight foot Grand Fir just after dark, hauled the tree home, then my husband and I promptly began our annual ritual of struggling with the tree outside of our front yard. It has never been easy to get the massive tree into the base upright and straight.

Our tree is now standing tall and grand in our living room, decking the whole house with an air of Christmas cheer. I love the scent of pine tree in the house. Especially, early in the morning, when I first open my bedroom door, and get a strong whiff of the fresh pine tree standing downstairs. It fills my senses with happiness. I just love the smell of Christmas.

I walked up to the customs agent’s counter in Beijing International airport, and mindlessly handed the customs agent my passport. He then mindlessly did his thing with my passport. It was supposed to be a quiet transaction, but he broke the silence when he looked up and asked if I still use my Chinese name in America. With a blank look on my face, I began to consider supplying him with an answer he might like to hear, but he didn’t give me enough time to think and he answered for me that that I must not use my Chinese name anymore. My passport was handed back to me with a smile. He then wished me a pleasant journey and pointed me to the three long security checkpoints reserved for US bound passengers. While standing in line, I thought about my long-lost Chinese name and how unattached I am to my Chinese name….

Born in 1969 in communist China, my parents promptly decided to name me after something that had something to do with Chairman Mao. Not that they thought of him as a great leader, but rather out of fear. They picked a little known poem by Mao, which allowed them to show enough dedication to Mao without being reminded too much of him. My name was the first character of the three character title of this poem. (They actually needed to have three children to qualify for Mao’s poem, but they stopped at two. My sister’s name was the second character of the title, but her character is better known.) They clearly went too far with their quest, not only did most people fail to associate my name properly with Chairman Mao, but most people simply don’t know the character that is my name.

As a young child in China, it always surprised me if someone could pronounce my name correctly without being told first. I regarded anyone who knew my name as certainly the most learned and intelligent. People would often ask how I got such a little known character as a name and I would politely repeat the origin of my name, including that I only have one sibling and that I don’t actually know the poem itself, just the title. I also endured numerous longer and more colorful dialogs about my name between my mother and other curious people. Once in a while, my parents would apologetically explain that my name was selected to protect me, but I am certain that my name had not once protected me when I got myself in trouble.

I came to America just in time to start 8th grade, and by then my Chinese name had been loosely “translated” phonetically into English. Now it really sounds nothing like my name, even when I say it. On quite a few occasions, I was completely oblivious when someone was calling for me. One day, my grandmother suggested to me that since I live in America now, it would be easier to have an English name. I thought this was an excellent idea. The very first name she suggested was “Jenny,” and I said okay. Finally, I had a name that is simple, modest, and best of all, does not call attention to itself.

When I got married, since my husband isn’t Chinese, I realized that I would lose part of my ethnic identity if I changed my last name but I decided to change my last name anyway. The logic was simple: I wanted to have the same last name as my future children so that no one would mistake me for their nanny. I kept my maiden name as my middle name. Most of the time a middle name is not required, so, on paper, my name does not suggest that I am Chinese American.

In real life, I am a Chinese American—a proud one, I might add. I am fluent in spoken and written Chinese. My favorite carb is rice, in fact, it is pretty much the only carb I like. I am also an avid green tea drinker, and rarely miss an opportunity to order stinky tofu if my dining partner can tolerate if not share it. After I had children of my own, it became even more important to embrace being Chinese. I wanted to pass down the great Chinese heritage and values to my children. They are taught to be respectful and obedient to their teachers in school, and that being smart and getting good grades is a great source of pride, and yes! math and science is more important than liberal arts.

I also made great efforts to teach my children to be fluent in Mandarin Chinese in our predominately English speaking household. We were fortunate to afford the hiring a full time Chinese speaking nanny for our children for 6 years. I read Chinese children books to my children almost religiously every night. Both of my kids were given Chinese names in addition to English ones and we use their Chinese names at home. We celebrate each major Chinese holiday, and for Chinese New Year, I even stage a celebration that can sort of rival Christmas. They get all dressed up in their beautiful silk Chinese outfits on New Year’s day, I arrange nice display of treats on our table for the kids to enjoy, and instead of the more traditional treats, I disguise mine with gold-wrapped Chocolate coins, and snacks that they like. After all, one has to enjoy the treats to appreciate the holiday. And of course, the red envelops, which they grow to appreciate more and more each year. One day, I think they might like it better than the presents during Christmas. I just have to be very generous with their red envelops. But the most festive part of our Chinese New Year celebration is our annul pilgrimage to my parent’s house. Where they learn that Chinese New Year is a great family celebration mixed with a lot of eating, and more red envelops for the children. I tell them that they are lucky to have more holiday celebrations than most of their friends, because they are Chinese.

And I am lucky to be an Chinese American too. Because I fully embrace the benefits from two great cultures. Even without a Chinese name.

Note: This is an article that was written four years ago. I am very busy with the holidays these days….. I had to resort to recycling.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, my two children have soccer practice and rehearsals for their school’s Willy Wonka production. Thank goodness, I have an easy one-dish meal recipe that is simply a life saver. So, on most Tuesdays and Thursdays, I prepare my healthy vegetables with Chicken dish, and put it in the oven to roast while I taxi the kids around.

This dish is so easy, anyone can do it. And it will turn out good. I promise.

Ingredients: Vegetables and Chicken drumsticks

Vegetables: Any kind of vegetables that your family likes (or that you can find in your refrigerator). For my family, I usually use the following: Red Potatoes, Carrot, cherry tomatoes, Portobello mushrooms, onions, and string beans.

Chicken: 6 to 8 pieces of drumsticks or 4 pieces of drumsticks with thighs

Preparation:

1)Wash and cut the vegetables to bite size, and put them in a large 2 inch flat pan.
2)Add several cloves of garlic
3)Season the vegetables to taste with salt and pepper, then add Olive oil
4)Season the chicken pieces to taste with salt and pepper, and lay the drumsticks on top of the vegetables.
5)Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the dish in uncovered for an hour and half. Best if you can turn the chicken halfway through for a more even roast.
6)Serve with a side of white rice or bread and butter.

To avoid boring my family’s palate with the same dish over and over again, I mix it up a little by marinating just the chicken pieces in Teriyaki or Korean BBQ sauce or some other sauce I make up.

You may have noticed that my recipe has no exact measurements–well, I am one of those cooks that doesn’t usually use recipes or measuring cups. I kinda just guess and hope it will turn out right. It usually does! I am a capable chef.

To impress you with my cooking credentials, here are some of the dishes I have made…

A big “SALE” sign caught my attention, as I walked by the GAP Kids store, and drew me into the store.

The “SALE” sign was on a big round table featuring a dozen or so long sleeved shirts, with a nice center piece that showcased some of the for sale items. I quickly noted that the shirts were retailing for $16.50, but if you buy 2 or more, then they are $12.50 each, so about a 25% discount.

I like discounts, and proceeded to walk around the table to checkout the designs. After 2 rotations, I had 3 shirts picked out, and went to the counter to checkout.

“I thought these are on sale?” I said to the sales clerk as I examined my receipt.

“They are.” The clerk shot back without looking up.

“Then they should be $12.50 each!” me.

“They are $12.50 each only at the full price. Two of your shirts are marked down.” Clerk

“What?” me with a confused looked.

He pulled my shirts out of the bag to show me the price tags. Indeed two of the shirts had price tags with a small sticker showing $13.99 on top of the original $16.50 price.

“What does that mean? Your sticker said: buy 2 or more, and they become $12.50 each.” I am still confused, and read their sale back to him.

“Yes, but only if the shirts are at full price, two of your shirts are already market down to $13.99. Only one of your shirts is at full price, if you want the discount, you will have to go find another shirt at $16.50 from the table.” He explained.

Discount on top of another discount usually saves the customer even more money, however at GAP Kids, new discount takes the savings away from the customers!

“The discount printed on your price sticker would have me pay $37.50 for these three shirts. But after your markdown, I actually paid $45 for these three shirts. This makes no sense. You should honor the official discount.” me

The clerk didn’t bother with a reply, simply shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “It is what it is. And we don’t like customers who can do math.”

I overpaid for my three shirts, and left GAP irate. Craving therapy, I went to the Gymboree store across from GAP, and bought like crazy at full sticker price!

Gymboree gave me Gymbucks for my purchases, and the clerk even offered to call me to remind me when to come back to redeem the Gymbucks. I love Gymboree!

We have the worst soccer schedule this season. It seems every game my 10 year old plays is the league’s earliest game, at 9AM. This means I have to set my alarm clock for 7:30AM on a Saturday morning on purpose. I have just enough time to wake up, shower, feed my child a big breakfast, and drive the child to the soccer field in a clean uniform by 8:30AM for warm-up looking well groomed.

Just before the game starts, I always go talk to another soccer mom from the team. We both enjoy having the same conversation every Saturday morning, which is to complain about another 9AM game.

“Another Saturday! We are not still in our beds… dreaming.” me.

“I know! This is what, week 3 or 4? This is so unusual. They assign our team for the 9AM game every week.” the other soccer mom.

Then she continued, “And my husband still hasn’t watched a single game yet. This is too early for him. He is still sleeping. Is your husband coming?”

“Yes. But that is no cause for celebration.” me.

“Better than my husband!” She exclaimed.

“But let me tell you what I have to do to prepare for his arrival.” me.

“After I drop off my kid, I drive straight to Starbucks to get him a Caramel Macchiato. Then I drive to McDonald’s to get him his Bacon, Egg & Cheese Bagel Sandwich. Then I haul everything from my car onto this field. I have to find a shady spot. I set up the chairs, set up the drinks, the breakfast, and wait for his HIGHNESS to show up at 9AM.” said I, pointing to my setup up the hill.

She turned to gaze at the setup that is a distance from the sideline in the shade. Her face betrayed a tint of contemplation before breaking into laughter.

I sighed, and then walked toward my chairs, leaving her alone to ponder which of our husbands is the better treasure.