Celebrating Autumn
I welcomed this fall through two joyous celebrations. Last month, I went to Chinatown in New York City. I was surprised by those old-fashioned Chinese style buildings as it felt like home. Since the Mid-Autumn festival was coming up, many shopkeepers were selling mooncakes of all different flavors. I bought a big Chinese date-flavored mooncake. In the afternoon, I ate delicious fried rice and dumplings in a Cantonese cafeteria! I later encountered some Chinese and Chinese American people on the street celebrating the Mid-Autumn festival by performing, and many people were attracted to their performance, including me! I enjoyed the Chinese songs and dances and became tearful. In the evening I shared some mooncakes with my American roommate, Lulu, and she liked it! I told her about the Mid-Autumn Festival and she was very interested in learning more.
Following this, I attended our university’s homecoming celebrations including the homecoming football game. I was surprised by the joy in the air. Even though it was rainy, all of the seats were all occupied by students. The MSU cheer team were jumping and dancing while shouting “MSU! MSU!” and there was a orchestra band playing music. At the end, my school won the game and two team members hugged each other in celebration. As part of the homecoming celebrations, I also attended a “Hollywood Trivia in California” contest. To win prizes, my group competed with other groups by answering questions about Hollywood movies and TV shows. At the end there was a “lottery” and luckily my ticket was picked. I won two boxes of colored pens and three picture books! During this game, I also made a new American friend named Ally. We talked a lot about New Jersey tourism and my daily life.
Written by Liyan Yang, 2018-19 Global UGRAD student from China at Montclair State University