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| Chinese New Year's Eve, January 22, 2012 Chongqing, an 8-hour train ride from Tongren, a city of 35 million people |
China is a time void. The usual calendar markers do not
exist. No Halloween. No Thanksgiving. No Christmas. No New Year’s. Thank goodness I
still have a birthday. Chinese New Year is a whole different ball game that
takes place on its own terms. China follows all of its own rules.
Without events to mark the passing day, weeks, and months, I loose
track of time. It could be November or February. There’s no need to know
the date … the fourth, the eleventh, the nineteenth … it doesn’t really matter.
A “biggie” date, like December 25, means nothing here. It’s just another date
for a teaching plan about apples, oranges, and grapes. I must think really hard
about what day of the week I am currently living.
Having no sense of time is an odd and slightly dangerous
feeling. It’s hard to know if I exist and if anything I do is real.
Until a few minutes ago, I forgot this year was Leap Year.
Actually, I was shocked and alarmed that I had no idea. I usually get excited
about such things. It’s a special day, one whole extra day to do something.
Only here, today is just like any other day. That’s China.
That's pretty crazy. Is that the only annual holiday that's recognized by the government? I didn't think about how holidays help us mark time until now, but you are so right.
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