Well all that changed when my butt landed in Beijing a year and a half ago. I never felt more like a banana, and for the first time, I think I might have had a bit of an identity crisis. But after working and living here for what feels like just yesterday, I’ve learned that being a "Banana" has its perks. Being immersed in two different cultures is like speaking a second language. Kinda like cultural androgyny: Not one or the other, but still be able to believe in Santa Claus and decorate a tree, as well as eat moon cakes and light fireworks till dawn.

From February the 6th, a week long holiday kicks off in China. It’s similar to Christmas in that businesses use it as a great cash cow for consumers to spend, spend, spend – whether it be on fireworks, tobacco, fruit baskets or blood oranges. Don’t you just love advertisers! Christmas in Canada and now Chunjie in Beijing. The differences are obvious, but both holidays are meant for people to slow down and smell the Maple leaf or peach blossoms. Beijing is going through a cyclone of changes for the summer Olympics. Yes, the city needs to be ready by a certain date, but I’m hoping that people will just close their eyes and count backwards to ten this season. Life should not be a rush. Pushing and shoving in line on a Sunday afternoon at Carrefour is not worth the stress that the holiday is meant to relieve.

That’s the paradox of it all. Holidays are supposed to be a time for rest and relaxation but are becoming busier and more stressful than a newsroom during a presidential election. We stress over useless crap to buy people for the sake of face, and we fuss over this and that like chickens with our heads cut off that we sometimes end up missing the point of it all: spending it with the people we care about and love, and knowing that they will still care and love us even if we didn’t bring them back 20 knock off hand bags from Silk Street, or treat them to abalone and bai jiu.