so i wrote this because ive always identified my family and i with city elves? and this is. kind of very personal and very stream of consciousness. so sorry its weird. 新年快乐，大家！！ 万事如意！
part 1
i wanted to write about city elves and how much emphasis they place on reunion dinners and getting the right kinds of food (basically like my family haa) so like. i wanted to write about my city elf warden before they became the warden, and the gathering of families in the alienage and some people finding ways to see their families in another city, and cramming around the little tables in their houses and sharing stuff about what everyones been up to. did you hear elva and her husband fighting the other night? taedor got a good job in the market WELL my son got a better job and has a shop of his own. and theres the fish and the prayers for prosperity, or as much as the maker can spare (bitter laughing), the reused red envelopes for the young ones filled with little candies and as many silvers as everyone can spare. and you count as a young one too yuna, still not married yet, when is that happening, huh? and everyone is together and sometimes on other days they would fight but this is for family.
part 2
everyone was there, they had to push twelve chairs around the tiny table to fit them all. shianni and yuna and soris shoulder to shoulder, turning to each other to talk and laugh as their elders shouted around the table at each other like they werent just a few feet away. the quiet and subdued manner they adopted around shems fell away and the parents laughed raucously at a story being told and dug into the steaming platters, a feast of wishes (for prosperity, for health, for a good next year). yuna rested a hand on shianni's leg and laughed when she pointed out uncle huan's resemblance to the goose on the table. auntie ranna called them to attention, handing them crisp red envelopes, and laughing at their hesitance to open them. she hadn't come so far to not see their happy faces, she said. and there were happy faces indeed.
