We are sitting here again. The dim moon hid her face behind the grey clouds, like home, gloomy and unreachable.

Today is the joyous Mid-Autumn Festival, the third and last festival for the living, which is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox. Many referred to it simply as the “Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon”. In the Western calendar, the day of the festival usually occurred sometime between the second week of September and the second week of October.

This day was also considered a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. With delinquent accounts settled prior to the festival , it was a time for relaxation and celebration.

 

Jack came here this weekend to spend this special day with me. Also, our group which includes Vivian, Sophia, and other my Chinese friends on campus cooked Chinese food at the girls’ lounge.

We had a good time cooking the dishes that we used to have at home, and I called them “the taste of home”. We were laughing and talking about our own customs at home. We also ate moon cakes.

As foreign students, the only way to keep us together is to remember our cultures. Festivals of different cultures can be considered as profound bonds between time and distance.

Even though we are separated with our homes and families, the magical feeling is that when we sit together and share our experiment, I know that is the feeling of home.

No matter how nostalgic we are, and how remote we are physically from our homeland, there is always one thing which can guide us back together – tradition.

I Skype with my parents once a week, and I feel satisfaction and steadfast when I see their smiles. I have to say that I do miss my family and friends. However, I also do feel so lucky to be here with people carrying various culture from different parts of the world.

In our own saying, the moon on the Mid Autumn Day is always the roundest and brightest during the whole year, because it symbolizes the unity and reunion of family, friends, and people in love.

It is a sweet festival and I enjoyed it a lot this year. Thanks to everyone that makes my day so fabulous and I really feel warmth and that is called home.

I do miss my home.

And I do miss U.

So here we are sitting here, watching the elegant moon. The moon struggles from the darksome clouds, round and bright.