Double New Year

Jason, Next, Gen, High School Junior, New Jersey, USA

Jason’s story captures a familiar ABC feeling - standing between two cultures and slowly learning that belonging does not require choosing sides. His gentle realization that he “gets both” is a reminder that identity is not a split but an expansion. This piece opens the collection with warmth, humor, and a soft truth many of us needed to hear growing up.

Growing up ABC means I celebrate two New Years…
and feel slightly confused at both.

January 1st was “the American one.”
My friends talked about Times Square and resolutions like:

- “I’ll go to the gym.” (They never did.)
- “No sugar.” (Also never.)
- “New year, new me.” (Same them.)

I played along, but honestly, it felt like a fun party that didn’t belong to me.
Fireworks outside, but not inside.

Then came Lunar New Year — the “family one.”

Suddenly our house transformed:

- Red envelopes everywhere
- Dumplings that multiplied like rabbits
- My parents speaking Mandarin at 2x speed
- My mom yelling “WEAR RED OR BAD LUCK!” even if I was half asleep

The holiday had weight - memory weight.
Their childhood. Their home. Their parents. Their streets.

I loved the celebration…
but I didn’t feel what they felt.

Their memories were oceans;
Mine were puddles.

Sometimes I felt like a tourist in my own culture, taking photos of a place that was supposed to feel like home.

Then everything changed last year.

We visited my grandparents’ old neighborhood in China.
The streets glowed with lanterns, and strangers treated me like a cousin they hadn’t seen in years.

A lady selling sesame cakes grabbed my hand and said something to me in dialect.
I didn’t understand a single word… but somehow, it didn’t feel wrong.

Kids ran past me with sparklers.
Temples rang their bells.
The air smelled like winter and fried dough.

And something small inside me whispered:
“ This is yours too.”

That night, as dragons danced through the street, my dad put his hand on my shoulder and said:

“You don’t have to choose.
You get both.”

And he was right.

Now I celebrate Western New Year with friends - loud, sparkly, chaotic.
Then Lunar New Year with family - warm, nostalgic, grounding.

And for the first time, it feels like a superpower instead of confusion:

Two calendars.
Two traditions.
Two ways of starting over.

People say ABC kids are “between worlds.”
But that’s not true.

We stand in the middle and hold both.
Twice the roots, twice the memories,
and yes -
double the fireworks.