by David Chen
Hello Nostalgia 

            Each country has its own traditional festivals, and what should they do at that festival? People not only need to celebrate their festivals, but they also are kind of symbol of the culture. The Chinese New Year is that symbol of Chinese culture, which has continued for three thousand years. The origin of the Chinese New Year comes from   an old Chinese story about driving away a monster called year. In the past, people cooked a lot of delicious foods to feed the monster and hoped it did not injure their family. In addition, people wore red clothing and lit fireworks to drive it away. As time passed, these customs became a part of Chinese New Year. However, I have been in the U.S. for four years, and there are some customs about the Chinese New Year that have been lost in translation since I arrived in this country.

            One of the most important parts of this holiday is having dinner with family members. The dinner part of Chinese New Year’s Eve that I remember from my childhood has change, since I arrived to the U.S. Usually, people are ready for the feast on the Chinese New Year’s Eve. Chinese people have to eat feast at home with family member, because it is an old tradition. Chinese people call it family reunion dinner. However, because of Chinese New Year is not a holiday in the U.S., people are unable to have a part all night on this special holiday. Because most people have to work on the next day. Chinese people have to go to sleep by midnight in on Chinese New Year’s Eve, so people need to cook dinner and eat together with family before midnight. Not only that, Chinese people in the U.S. do not have enough time to buy foods or cook dinner. Eating dinner on Chinese New Year’s Eve at home is a Chinese custom. Therefore, people will spend a lot of time buying food in the supermarket and cooking dinner at home, but most people cannot complete that in a few hours. Therefore, I have to eat an ordinary dinner with my family on this important holiday.

        

    In addition, due to strict U.S. laws people cannot light fireworks on New Year’s Eve as I did back home in my hometown. I love enjoying the beautiful fireworks on New Year’s Eve, but lighting fireworks at midnight will disturb our American neighbors. Lighting fireworks is an important custom in the Chinese culture, but in the U.S. lighting fireworks is only on July 4^th. If neighbors hear fireworks late at night, they would call 911. On the other hand, people have to clean the street after lit fireworks. In China, people do not need to worry about this issue. Because street clean it up the next day. I have never lit fireworks since I arrived here. Lighting fireworks always makes me recall my childhood.

            The custom of paying a New Year call has also been lost, and that is the most regretful thing for Chinese immigrants who live in the U.S. Chinese New Year is not an American holiday, so people have no time to call our their friends and relatives in the morning because they have to work early. If Chinese New Year falls on the weekend, I will be available to call my friends and my relatives. However, sometimes they have to work on the weekends, and when I making a call to them, they have already left for work. In addition, my friends and relatives live in different cities that I have no time to make a call to them. In China, the government and all of companies close during Chinese New Year, Chinese people have a long holiday. Therefore, people can go to the city, where our friends and relatives live in to make a call. Now I cannot solve these problems, so my only choice is to be intoxicated with my nostalgia.

            Hence, I wish I can enjoy a good dinner on Chinese New Year’s Eve with my family, watching nice fireworks and making a call to my friends and my relatives. However, these customs have been lost in translation since I arrived in this country. Of course, as a fresh immigrant, I should accept and adapt to the American culture. Fortunately, I have been able to blend into this diversify country quickly. To embody this diverse culture in the U.S., I always imagine a question: when will Chinese New Year become a holiday in the U.S.