Different Moon

                                                      Different Moon
                                                                                         --Jolyna--



Chang-E Flying to the moon

          Have you ever heard about the legend Chang - E Flying to the moon? It is a beautiful and well-known fable of ancient China about the Mid-Autumn Day. The Mid-Autumn Day falls on August 15^th of the lunar calendar every year. People believe that the moon is a symbol of reunion, luck and fortune, and it is a custom to express best wishes to the beloved ones at this particular time. On that day, all the members of the family will gather to enjoy the reunion dinner. They will also eat mooncakes, enjoy the glorious full moon, and children will play lanterns. When I immigrated to Chicago, I immediately noticed that the three most important aspects of the festival, atmosphere, food and entertainment were very different. I love this festival in China, but this is not the Mid-Autumn Day of my childhood.



In China

         When I celebrate the festival, the part I most care about is the atmosphere. It is very important to me. In Shenzhen, China, my sister and I would go back home from different cities where we studied in to celebrate that day with our family. My mother prepared a fancy reunion dinner, and we got together to talk about all the events that happened at our school. When we immigrated to Chicago, I realized it is not a well-known festival and nobody 

In Chicago

celebrated the day except the Chinese community. My mother and
father work in different city, so they come back home on the weekend. We can no longer gather together to celebrate the festival because it is not a holiday in the U.S. The first year we immigrated to Chicago on the Mid-Autumn day, when I came back home after school, there was no fancy dinner and no parents were waiting for me. No laughter filled the house and there was only a dark and cold house. I cooked instant noodles for my dinner and made a phone call to my parents. I felt so lonely and I really missed my hometown.  

ChiHuo

          After dinner, Chinese people enjoy the glorious moon while eating the mooncakes. I am a “ChiHuo” that means someone has a huge stomach and enjoys eating different kinds of food, so the mooncakes play an important role for me on the Mid-Autumn Day. Chinese people have many choices of buying the mooncakes in Shenzhen. There are different style mooncakes which are made

New Style Mooncake

with different filling and crusts. The double yolk mooncake is my favorite. I saw many pictures that my friends posted on WeChat about the new style mooncakes. The cream was filled in the mouth when you eat the middle of the mooncake. It attracted my attention and I really wanted to try it. Although I can buy the mooncakes from Chinatown, there are not many choices.  I looked for the new style in every store, but they had the same answer, no. I really want to try the new style mooncakes.



In China

           Not only the mooncakes, but the lanterns also play an important role in the Mid-Autumn Day. All Chinese families hang the lanterns in the house, and children will play with their toy lanterns. There are paper lanterns and electronic lanterns. After the family party, I used to hang out with my lovely friends to play the lanterns. When we walked in the street, we could hear a lot of


In Chicago

music from the different lanterns. The street was very bright and the city became lively because of the lanterns. In Chicago I hang out with my sister in the Mid-Autumn Day, but when we went outside and walked in the street, I could not hear the music. I could only hear the sound of the wind blowing through our ears. It was so dark and quiet that I felt it was a cold city.     

 

       

Dark Moon in Chicago

  

Lovely Moon in China

All in all, what is lost in translation for me is that I hope I could have the fancy reunion dinner with my parents, eat the new style mooncakes and walk in the bright and lively street with my lovely friends. None of that can come true in Chicago. I think I can only spend the wonderful holiday in my memory.  Although there is only one moon in the world, and the moon is also round and bright in the U.S, I know it is a different moon. It was not only a moon in my hometown, it also mean reunion and happiness in my heart.