My Lost Festival

Tingting Liu


I have been in Chicago almost one year. My dream has come true, and also many things have changed. Studying in America has always been my dream, and that has come true. However, coming here, I have also lost something. I am supposed to the new lifestyle, and abandon my old lifestyle in China. Since I have been in America, I am also supposed to celebrate the American festivals. During all of these transformations, the biggest one has been the Chinese Spring Festival. When the Chinese Spring Festival of 2011 passed by only eight months ago, I became aware that I had lost an important part of my culture.

In China, the Spring Festival is a time to givepeople a chance to get together with their families, but most Chinese people in America are working too hard and are too poor to celebrate this festival like we do in China. Every year in China, we have a grand celebration for this festival. When the festival is coming, the kids will get new clothes from their parents. On New Year's Eve, every family will be reunited, and
have a big dinner. After the dinner, the elders give the New Year's money to the kids. There also will be amazing fireworks at night. It is a happy time to be with family. However, Chinese
people in America have no time to celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival. Almost everyone has
to work. Working occupies their minds constantly, so when the festival is coming, they tend to not notice it is the most important festival at all. I feel so sorry about it.

Many Chinese families in America are not the same as the ones in China. In China, families are an entirety. No matter if the kids get married, they also take care of their parents.
During the Chinese Spring Festival, young couples will go to their parents' homes to stay with them, and do not make their parents feel lonely. However, Chinese families in America are scattered. Many children leave their home when they are eighteen, and after the children get married, they put all of their attention on their own families. They forget their parents as well as the traditional festival, the Chinese Spring Festival. Many Chinese will not even go to their parents' homes to celebrate this festival, and that is a pity.

Finally, Americans have their own festivals, and Chinese Spring Festival does not make sense to them. Almost every American has religious affiliation, so they celebrate Christmas. The Americans will have a holiday to celebrate
Christmas, which is the biggest festival in America. Many Chinese young people also celebrate the Christmas holiday because they have adapted to the culture. The Chinese young people who are born here learn American
culture instead of Chinese culture, so they do not understand Chinese culture. That makes them follow the Americans to celebrate Christmas, and forget the Chinese traditional festival. This cultural loss makes me feel sad, because they have lost an important part of Chinese
culture.

As time passes, many Chinese people assimilate into American life. The Chinese Spring
Festival will be lost little by little. Sometimes I do not know whether coming here was right or
not. I really do not want to lose the closeness of my family and my culture. I also like
Christmas. However, I do not want to replace Chinese Spring Festival with an American
culture. I hope that one day I can lead Americans to celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival, and
make it also be a part of the American