On Presents

Valentine's Day made me think of presents, probably because I usually ignore this day. It is not a traditional German festival and seems to have been invented to make card manufacturers and flower shops happy.

But there are other occasions for presents. Presents are something nice, they are supposed to be a joy for the one who receives them and give satisfaction to the giver. But they often cause stress: you are obliged to give one, you don't know the person you are giving something to, you feel you must give a present you cannot afford, you simply have no idea what to give

My idea of a good present is like this:

a) It is given voluntarily. Not as an obligatory return task, not as the pre-Christmas shopping horror. It is given, because the giver had the perfect idea for someone and therefore bought or made it.

b) It is a meaningful for the person you are giving it to. This means you know the one you are giving something to well or it refers to something in your common history. It need not be expensive, of course, a true present does not depend on money. Writing a poem, doing the washing-up, baby sitting... there are a lot of meaningful gifts that don't cost a lot of money, but they mean giving time, i.e. part of your life.

c) It is received with gratitude as a sign of friendship or affection, but not with a bad conscience and the thought "OMG, what can I do in return?" One day the occasion for returning it will arise, but it should not be forced.

Of course, there are obligatory presents and in this case, flowers and chocolates are never wrong. But maybe we can avoid them for the ones we love -- and if flowers, maybe a single rose and a long talk is more appreciated than an expensive bouquet.

Happy Chinese New Year

xin nian kuai le-
gong hay fat choy





Happy Chinese New Year to everybody who celebrates.


More Chinese greetings can be found here:
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/interactive/huichun/index.jsp