97 Spring Festival 2 过春节2
Hi everybody, 大家好, 欢迎收看今天的成长汉语. Thanks for joining us for today’s episode of Growing up with Chinese.
Now the holiday has finally arrived. It’s new year’s eve, and everyone has gathered at 小明’s house to celebrate. So what is a traditional Chinese new year celebration like? Well, let’s check in with our gang, and find out.
小明：妈，看电视太没劲了*1，我们也来包饺子吧。
奶奶：小祖宗们，算了吧，你们还不够给我们添乱的呢！
茜茜：奶奶，您可别小瞧我，我包得可好啦。
小明：我也会一点儿。
Mike：我不会，但我可以学啊。茜茜可以教我，是不是？
茜茜：没问题，包在我身上。
小明妈：那就一起包吧。自己包的吃着更香。
茜茜：麦克，你看，先把饺子皮放在手上，然后把饺子馅儿包进饺子皮里，再这么捏，就好了。
Mike：噢，好玩儿，好玩儿。一点儿也不难。我试试。小明：哈哈，没关系，再试一次。
Mike：我觉得这个饺子的形状好像耳朵一样。
小明妈：你还别说，过去老人常说，冬天啊，吃了饺子，耳朵就不容易被冻伤。是不是啊，妈？
奶奶：嗯，是有这么个说法。
小明爸：你包得这叫什么饺子啊？ 怎么个个都跟“开心果*2”似的？
小明：那是因为这个饺子在睡觉！ 你看，麦克还不如我呢。
小明叔叔：你们别在这儿浪费饺子皮了。再这么包下去，今晚大家就只能喝面汤了。
奶奶：没关系，今天过节，热热闹闹才好嘛！
小明：哈哈，就是的。哎，麦克，你知道，“饺子”这个名字是怎么来的吗？
Mike：啊？ 不会也是和谐音有关系吧？
小明：你说对了。农历新年时，人们都会在大年三十的子时，也就是旧的一年和新的一年交替的时候，围坐在一起吃饺子，共同迎接新年的到来。
Mike：吃饺子还有这么多讲究啊。对了，什么叫“子时”啊？
茜茜：“子时”啊，就是半夜12点左右。那时，新旧交替，所以叫交子嘛。
小明婶：好啦，孩子们，你们把这个硬币包到饺子里。硬币已经洗干净了。对了，还有两颗糖。
Mike：啊？ 这也能当饺子馅儿？ 这能吃吗？
小明婶：这只是一种祝福，并不是让你真的吃下去。
小明：是啊，麦克，如果你吃到了糖呢，你明年就会甜甜蜜蜜。如果吃到了硬币呢，你明年就会发大财啦！
Mike：哈哈，原来是“幸运儿”的意思，太好玩儿啦。奶奶：我看时间太不多了，李红，你们去煮饺子吧。
小明妈：好啊。
小明：茜茜、麦克，走，快到12点了，我们去放鞭炮吧。
Mike：噢，放鞭炮去喽！众人：来来来，过年好！ 干杯！
奶奶：来来来，这是压岁钱，一人一个大红包！
孩子们：谢谢，奶奶，给您拜年啦，祝您身体健康。
奶奶：好好好。
小明’s mom said 过去老人常说, 冬天吃了饺子, 耳朵就不容易被冻伤. 冻 is to freeze and 伤 is to injure, hurt or wound. So I guess if you eat dumplings in the winter, so they say anyway, they’re supposed to help keep your ears from being hurt by the cold. So it’s really no wonder that dumplings is such a popular food in northern China because it gets really cold during the winter.
茜茜：奶奶，您可别小瞧我，我包得可好啦。
小明：我也会一点儿。
Mike：我不会，但我可以学啊。茜茜可以教我，是不是？
茜茜：没问题，包在我身上。
小明妈：那就一起包吧。自己包的吃着更香。
茜茜：麦克，你看，先把饺子皮放在手上，然后把饺子馅儿包进饺子皮里，再这么捏，就好了。
Mike：噢，好玩儿，好玩儿。一点儿也不难。我试试。小明：哈哈，没关系，再试一次。
Mike：我觉得这个饺子的形状好像耳朵一样。
小明妈：你还别说，过去老人常说，冬天啊，吃了饺子，耳朵就不容易被冻伤。是不是啊，妈？
奶奶：嗯，是有这么个说法。
All right, 小明’s uncle mentioned a kind of soup today when he said 今晚大家就只能喝面汤了. 面汤. Now, literally translated, 面汤 means flour soup. Now when people boiled dumplings or noodles for that matter in China, the water that is left over in the pot is referred to as 面汤. It doesn’t have a crazy amount of flavor, but the flour that’s cooked into the water makes it a very nice soothing*3 drink. Now many times when you are in a noodle house or a dumpling restaurant, they’ll pour you a glass or a bowl of 面汤 as a drink. It’s quite comforting and very good.
小明爸：你包得这叫什么饺子啊？ 怎么个个都跟“开心果”似的？
小明：那是因为这个饺子在睡觉！ 你看，麦克还不如我呢。
小明叔叔：你们别在这儿浪费饺子皮了。再这么包下去，今晚大家就只能喝面汤了。
奶奶：没关系，今天过节，热热闹闹才好嘛！
小明：哈哈，就是的。
So, 小明 explained today why they put a few special items in a handful of dumplings? 如果你吃到了糖, 你明年会甜甜蜜蜜. 如果吃到了硬币, 你明年就会发大财. Now candy sweet, right? So if you get the dumpling with the candy in it, your upcoming year will be full of sweetness 甜甜蜜蜜. If you get a coin or 硬币 in your dumpling, you will become rich. 发财 or 发大财 in the upcoming year. Now I think getting to eat both a coin and the candy would be best of all.
小明婶：好啦，孩子们，你们把这个硬币包到饺子里。硬币已经洗干净了。对了，还有两颗糖。
Mike：啊？ 这也能当饺子馅儿？ 这能吃吗？
小明婶：这只是一种祝福，并不是让你真的吃下去。
小明：是啊，麦克，如果你吃到了糖呢，你明年就会甜甜蜜蜜。如果吃到了硬币呢，你明年就会发大财啦！
Mike：哈哈，原来是“幸运儿”的意思，太好玩儿啦。
All right everyone let’s take a few minutes to go over some of today’s vocabulary.
- 耳朵 ears. ěr duo
- 农历 Chinese agricultural calendar. nóng lì
- 放鞭炮 to set off fireworks or firecrackers. fàng biān pào
- 压岁钱 this specifically refers to money given to children as a lunar new year gift. yā suì qián
Spotlight
I’m sure many of you have had Chinese dumplings or 饺子 before. And if you haven’t, you should try them. They’re very tasty and they come in all kinds of flavors. Now the most common fillings for 饺子 are a combination of meat and vegetables, although you can find vegetarian or seafood 饺子 as well.
The process of making them, as you all saw in today’s clip, is a group affair. And it’s always fun to partake *4 in the making.
Now some people can make them faster than a machine could. And others, like myself, tend to be a little slower, but that’s OK.
So, why is it important to eat 饺子 on Chinese New Year? Well, some people say they look like the golden ingots that were used during the 明 dynasty. So serving them and eating them is supposed to bring you wealth in the new year.
Some families have the tradition of hiding a peanut or some kind of noticeable food inside a few dumplings or a candy or coin like we saw in today’s dialogue. And whoever eats these special dumplings will have extra special luck in the new year.
Primer
It’s time to take a look at today’s language points and to begin with we have a pattern: verb 来 verb 去.
Now our verb in this pattern should be monosyllabic and the pattern expresses repetition of an action. So, 跑来跑去. To run around continuously. 看来看去. To look around again and again. 想来想去. To think about something continuously.
- 小明，别在家跑来跑去的。／外边下雨，我在家锻炼呢。
- Mike，你怎么总在房间里走来走去的？／唉，有道难题，我想不出来。
We’ve got a colloquialism next, 你还别说. 你还别说 is used to express an opinion. And this opinion could differ slightly from what you thought before or from what other people might think. For example I could say 你还别说, 烤鸭还真好吃. You know, roast duck is actually quite delicious. So the implication here is that before perhaps I thought roast duck wasn’t so good or maybe someone told me it wasn’t good. But, it’s actually pretty good.
- 你还别说，来中国以前，我从没想到我会这么喜欢这儿。／那就别回去了。
- 你还别说，我觉得写中文比说中文更有意思。／是吗？ 很多人都觉得汉字太难写了。
And finally let’s take a look at 这叫什么 something 啊? OK, this pattern is used to express a complete disapproval or rejection of something. So typically what comes between 这叫什么 and 啊 is a noun. So today 小明’s dad said to 小明 “你包得这叫什么饺子啊?” Can what you’ve made really be called a dumpling? Or can this really be considered a dumpling? In other words, it doesn’t resemble a dumpling at all. OK so another example of this pattern could be 这叫什么蛋糕啊? 一点儿蛋糕的味道都没有. Can this be called a cake? Is this really a cake? It doesn’t have even the slightest bit of a cake’s flavor.
- 看，我戴上墨镜以后像不像大明星？／你这叫什么明星啊？
好了, 我们今天剩的时间不多了. We’ve just about run out of time for today. Now I hope you all enjoyed experiencing Chinese New Year’s eve, there is nothing quite like it.
Now don’t forget you can always visit our website if you want to review anything or watch today’s episode again. And while you are there, please feel free to leave us any comments or send in any questions you might have. It’s always good to hear from you. OK, I will see you all next time. 大家, 加油,下次见.
