I had confused the Chinese tradition of Lunar New Year. I had thought the dinner on New Year's Day was most important, but turns out the dinner on New Year's Eve, which I now know as 團年飯 or reunion dinner, was the most important. Similar to Thanksgiving and Black Friday, it seems New Year's Eve is when every member of the family makes an effort to gather and celebrate. The dinner should traditionally be earlier so people can go out afterwards to celebrate. Staying out late and celebrating the New Year seems the norm. New Year's Day is seen as the recovery day, sleeping in and casually visiting and reaching out to family. This latter aspect I took with a grain of salt. It may simply be my dad trying to get me to relax more during my days off.
During New Year's Day, my parents spent the day sending messages and talking on the phone with family and friends local and abroad. I spent the day hitting up Costco and walking a couple of pounds of merchandise back to my parents' place. I was not deliberately trying to avoid familial interaction, but just wound up trying to get some exercise in while getting the family a gift. Walking around Costco in a holiday mood felt strange compared to the routine mood of those around me. It felt almost like I was Black Friday shopping while everyone else was just going about doing their regular Sunday shopping. Surprisingly, Costco had some Lunar New Year items. I guess if the Lunar New Year is popular enough now to be recognized by the state of California, it shouldn't be surprising to see some items marketed towards the holiday.
I didn't really see the significance of Lunar New Year. Renouncing my Asian side as a kid and often just bored during family visits, the holiday never really resonated with me. Even as an adult, I seldom found it relevant to my life. Maybe go out and eat if people want. Otherwise, no big deal. That's not to say I don't respect those who do feel relevance to their lives. I respect the fact that our China office is closed during this time and I don't mind scheduling work around it. However, personally, I didn't see a need to participate in the celebrations besides embracing a cultural identity that others believe I should embrace.
Now, as I grow older and I see less of family, I've really been starting to feel a bit of regret for taking the holiday for granted. By extension, I feel like I've been taking my family for granted. After all, through thick and thin, young and old, there are few constants like family. I think moving forward, I will regard Lunar New Year with the same sentiments that I have for Thanksgiving. I will try to make it.