Year of the sheep..or goat..or Ram..for Chinese new year 2015

If one ethnic group truly dominates Australia culturally, politically and economically, in a positive way, that is Chinese. Surprisingly though, China as a country does not dominate directly, like the US, the big brother does. It is the Chinese people that have been influencing Australian landscape for a century, from the days of gold mining to now where the Chinese new year is a mainstay of events in big cities here. I wonder if the Americans can say the same about Australia or anywhere else for that matter, apart from the flimsy world of Hollywood or heart attack food companies or politics and force.

Being married to a Chinese family brings a massive influence in yourself, mainly food, as it is so rich, diverse, and of such wide varieties, it is almost an spiritual experience and at the core of Chinese culture and the driver for Chinese influence around the world. Food for Chinese is not just something to fill your tummy with, it is completely inter-twined with geography, culture, climate, language and heritage of different parts in China and where the Chinese live - all around the globe.Chinese from where they live now, for example Indonesia or Vietnam, add more variety to their core Chinese main items. Every dish is a representative of that part and contains portions

of spirit from there. My in-laws, are no exception. Every Chinese new year's day is a family get together that is expressed in the form of lavish dinner that needs three large dining tables just to park the dishes that my mother in law cooks herself. This year was no exception either. Getting around the table talking to family members from different walks of life, the family politics as usual, the good and the bad ones, the favorable ones and the not so likeable ones, its all part of the occasion. At the centre of this is an engine, the culinary, packaged in the
form of

new year,
and the Chinese new year wish - gong xi fa cai. This year's annual new year's parade at George street was also a flamboyant event with us becoming part of the thousands that lined up to cheer and welcome the year of the Sheep..or goat..or Ram.