What’s in a name?

It’s all at stake when choosing a name for your soon-to-be child. The stakes are doubled when bringing two cultures into the mix. In our case, quadrupled because we’re tasked with finding names for both genders. No one to blame but my stubborn self for not wanting to know…there’s not enough surprises left in life, at least that’s what I keep telling myself.

Spring Festival in China, Chinese New Year in U.S.

This post is part of the Chinese New Year Blog Hop 2016 hosted by Two Americans in China. A blog hop centers around a single topic and allows readers to discover new blogs.Check out the other blogs at the bottom of this post!

You might have heard a few things about Chinese New Year already. You’ve probably heard about the firecrackers and maybe even the money in red envelopes that older members of the family give to young children to celebrate the festival.

And as you would expect with a major family festival, it involves a big family meal and trips to see relatives.

But there are seven other things about the Spring Festival that are less widely-known, so with the new year upon us, I want to take a look at some of the aspects of the festival I learned about when I lived in Xi’an that you might not know about. You can always read all about the first Spring Festival (it just so happened to be my very first blog post).

I’ll also share how we celebrate 春节, Spring Festival, since we now live in the U.S.

Labels: the Good, Bad, and Ugly

Three Reasons for Yangxifu Pride

It’s a mixed bag of reactions whenever I declare I’m a yangxifu, foreign wife/bride, at least in the United States. As a possibly necessary disclaimer, I do not inform acquaintances merely by translating into English, but may mention my husband is Chinese.

Self-identifying as a 洋媳妇 in China would always illicit positive responses, especially from the taxi drivers who mistook my nationality, identifying me as Russian. Many saw nothing out of the ordinary in a Russian woman marrying into a Chinese family.

I mesmerize millennials and many, but not all, of my peers, when I disclose my husband’s nationality. They get caught up in “the trans-national romance,” many having been abroad understanding the subtle nuances of creating lasting bonds, perhaps not as lasting as mine.

Expressing Gratitude Across Cultures

谢谢你，感谢你，非常感谢你！

祝大家感恩节快乐！

Thankgiving, Turkey Day, Give Thanks Day, or maybe in your case Fight Off Family Day.

Thank you Xiananigans’ followers, members of the extended, growing online AMWF community; friends, relatives, and most importantly, my husband.