How these traditional Asian families are socialized to save the best for the guests, translated…
Being born and raised in the Hakka Village in the sixties, the villagers would use the goods they'd prepared to offer to the gods above at the end of year. Hiring the performance crews to put on a show, inviting those who live away from our village to come join in the celebrations of their relatives and friends, "a show for the harvest of winter", was what this was, called, and, every single house was putting on that celebration, the entire village, boiling with the joys.
And yet, we weren't, that well-to-do. Because of this, whenever this event is about to happen, my mother would chop up a huge plate of broiled chicken, with the sour cabbage smoked with the pork stomach, the bamboo shoots with the bacons, the specialty dishes of Hakka, etc., etc., etc., but the members of the families can only, "watch to eat"—because there's only limited amount of these items, they're, saved for the, guests.
preparing for the celebrations...setting everything to PERFECT! Photo from online
One year, my family had only prepared for two tables' worth of guests, and, four tables worth of guests came. My father immediately went to the grocer to have the goods delivered, but didn't pay for the goods at the time, bought a huge case of wine, my mother rummaged out three wrinkled ten dollar bills inside that iron keg underneath her bed, told my younger brother to get some rice noodles, then, she'd run over to my aunts, to try and borrow a rooster from the family, while I was in charge of, borrowing the chairs for the tables from the neighbors. The family of four of us, busied ourselves around like crazy, unstop, and we were able to, fed our guests.
And, as the party was over, there was still the scent of wine and the foods in the air, and, we finally, sat ourselves down, at the table that's been, swept out by the guests, continued, finishing the, leftovers.
to...this...photo from online
And so, this is on how the guests who come to our homes are, treated like kings, while we still didn't have enough to keep ourselves fed, and this, is courtesy, of the Asian cultures. The means of saving the best for those who are visiting, and keeping what's subpar to ourselves to consume…
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