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.Read More »