又中又英｜etched in my memory - Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

When I was young my Hong Kong Chinese friends often invited me to their homes on Lunar New Year’s Eve for an end-of-year dinner. Their parents went overboard cooking many dishes. We all pigged out! Those days are etched in my memory. As we grew older, many of us drifted apart. My school friends had families of their own. I did not expect them to invite me to end-of-year dinners. They either had too much on their plate cooking for their own families or they and their children went to the homes of their parents. To go overboard means to do something too much. To pig out means to greedily eat too much.
If something is etched in your memory, it means you will never forget it. When friends drift apart it means they see less and less of each other. If you have too much on your plate it means you have too much to deal with or worry about. Nowadays many families eat end-of-year dinners in restaurants instead of cooking at home. But that was impossible this year because the government banned dine-in service after 6pm to slow the Omicron pandemic. Restaurants offered a variety of take-out dinners but many families decided to cook at home. To me, cooking end-of-year dinners is more meaningful than eating in restaurants. It binds families together.

Home-cooked meals are healthier. In the US, Thanksgiving is a very important meal of the year. Family members often travel from different parts of the US for a family reunion. Families cook their own turkey and side dishes. Most restaurants close on Thanksgiving anyway. Now that I am in Manhattan living by myself, end-of-year dinners have lost some of their meaning. But I still made sure I had a special end-of-year meal. I went to a nearby Chinese restaurant to take home a large chicken, mushrooms, snow peas, and carrots dinner with rice. The owner and staff are from Hong Kong. I felt good wishing them Kung Hei Fat Choi！
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我年輕的時候，一些香港朋友常邀請我在農曆新年除夕晚，到他們家吃團年飯。他們的父母會過頭地（went overboard）煮很多很多餸菜，我們則會大吃一頓（pigged out）！那些日子都烙印在我記憶之中（etched in my memory）。年紀漸長，我們當中許多人已漸漸疏遠（drifted apart）。同窗好友們都各有家室，我當然也不會期望他們邀請我去吃團年飯吧，他們要不為了家人下廚而忙得不可開交（too much on their plate），要不就會帶子女到自己父母的家吃飯。To go overboard意即做得過火、過頭了；to pig out即是狼吞虎嚥地吃、暴飲暴食。

若某事是etched in your memory，意即你銘記於心，永不忘記。當朋友們drift apart，即是說他們逐漸疏遠，愈來愈少見面。若你have too much on your plate，即是說你有許多事情要處理或掛心，分身不暇。今時今日，許多家庭都會在餐廳吃團年飯，而非在家下廚；不過這到今年已變得不可能了，因為政府為了延緩Omicron病毒散播，禁止食肆在晚上六時後堂食。餐廳推出多款外賣晚餐，但許多家庭也情願在家煮飯。對我來說，煮一餐團年飯比在餐廳吃更有意義，使家庭關係更為密切。

在家煮食亦更健康。在美國，感恩節大餐是一年之中非常重要的一餐。為了與家人團聚，家庭成員往往會由美國各地返家。美國家庭會煮一道自家的火雞與配菜，況且大部份餐廳都不會在感恩節期間營業。現在我獨個兒住在曼哈頓，團年飯某程度上已失去意義，但我仍確保自己有一餐特別的年夜飯——我去了附近的中國餐館，買了一大隻雞、冬菇、荷蘭豆、紅蘿蔔配白飯回家當晚餐。餐館的店主和夥計都是從香港來的，我可以向他們說恭喜發財，感覺真好！

Michael Chugani 褚簡寧