又中又英｜etched in my memory - Michael Chugani 褚简宁

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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我年轻的时候，一些香港朋友常邀请我在农历新年除夕晚，到他们家吃团年饭。他们的父母会过头地（went overboard）煮很多很多餸菜，我们则会大吃一顿（pigged out）！那些日子都烙印在我记忆之中（etched in my memory）。年纪渐长，我们当中许多人已渐渐疏远（drifted apart）。同窗好友们都各有家室，我当然也不会期望他们邀请我去吃团年饭吧，他们要不为了家人下厨而忙得不可开交（too much on their plate），要不就会带子女到自己父母的家吃饭。To go overboard意即做得过火、过头了；to pig out即是狼吞虎咽地吃、暴饮暴食。

若某事是etched in your memory，意即你铭记于心，永不忘记。当朋友们drift apart，即是说他们逐渐疏远，愈来愈少见面。若你have too much on your plate，即是说你有许多事情要处理或挂心，分身不暇。今时今日，许多家庭都会在餐厅吃团年饭，而非在家下厨；不过这到今年已变得不可能了，因为政府为了延缓Omicron病毒散播，禁止食肆在晚上六时后堂食。餐厅推出多款外卖晚餐，但许多家庭也情愿在家煮饭。对我来说，煮一餐团年饭比在餐厅吃更有意义，使家庭关系更为密切。

在家煮食亦更健康。在美国，感恩节大餐是一年之中非常重要的一餐。为了与家人团聚，家庭成员往往会由美国各地返家。美国家庭会煮一道自家的火鸡与配菜，况且大部份餐厅都不会在感恩节期间营业。现在我独个儿住在曼哈顿，团年饭某程度上已失去意义，但我仍确保自己有一餐特别的年夜饭——我去了附近的中国餐馆，买了一大只鸡、冬菇、荷兰豆、红萝卜配白饭回家当晚餐。餐馆的店主和伙计都是从香港来的，我可以向他们说恭喜发财，感觉真好！

Michael Chugani 褚简宁