2018-02-18
【Aiden in English】
On day 3 of the Chinese New Year celebrations, I feel bad. I’ve had a lot of Peking ducks, too much seafood, and insufficient sleep. Regardless, no one feels guilty about the times that passed. It's like being in Las Vegas: blowing money feels good. Around Chinese New Year, food flows like water, which is funny because I don't think I've drunk anything healthy for a good three or so dinners. Tonight, for the second time in three nights, we went to Golden City, a local Chinese restaurant, for a teacher-exclusive appreciation dinner hosted by Guanghua Chinese School. I sat with a younger group of friends about my age, and we messed around most of the night. The food was good, the chat was good, a good experience all around. However, I do want to talk about the purpose of the holidays. For the longest time, I never understood the reason behind celebrating what some dude five hundred years ago did. Christopher Columbus wasn’t even the first European to discover North America! A holiday celebration is supposed to commemorate events on the same day in history. We celebrate Independence Day for independence, New Year's for the New Year, and National Pi Day because we have nothing better to do. But do we commemorate the significant actions put in by those whom we celebrate? This generation is strange. We have the best technology, food supply, and sanitation in history. We aren't grateful for anything (at least, I'm not). In previous generations, life was different. There were more physical and life-threatening issues people had to deal with. Medicine was expensive, and food was hard to find. Today, people are afraid of the common cold! What have we gotten to? For Thanksgiving, I didn't even think much about being thankful. Granted, I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but there wasn't an ounce of thankfulness in my heart. The holidays have become nothing more than rest and fun away from school. That's ridiculous. So why are there holidays? Well, the best answer is that people make up the culture. Holidays give relaxation periods between challenging work, which makes for lots of quality time with others. However, national holidays strengthen the country's bond since everyone shares similar joy when celebrations roll around. Nationalism is born from things ordinary people share, from race to social class. The holidays are becoming less and less used to commemorate dead presidents and honorary vets and more to take time off. I like that. 【红霞译】
中国新年庆祝活动已进入第三天，我感觉昏头昏脑，除了干掉好多北京烤鸭并豪吞大量海鲜，没睡足半个囫囵觉。尽管如此，无人对过去几天庸碌无为有丁点愧疚，宛若置身拉斯维加斯：挥霍钱财才叫开心。春节前后山珍海味鱼贯而来，滑稽的是酒肉穿我肠的上两三顿晚餐未必健康。
今晚是过去三天来我第二次进驻附近这家中餐馆──金城酒家，专程参加宾州光华中文学校举行的教师答谢晚宴，我跟年龄相仿的同伴们围坐一桌，整个晚上大家随心所欲，吃得爽口聊得投机玩得尽兴。不过我还是想谈点节日用意，长久以来，本人从未搞懂五百年前先辈们为啥要过节，何况克里斯托弗·哥伦布又不是第一个发现北美大陆的欧洲人！
节日本应纪念历史上同日所发生的特殊事件，我们过“国庆节”为的是庆祝民族独立，“元旦”用来欢度新年头一天， “国立圆周率日”则因无聊而没事找事做，但针于那些值得铭记的伟人我们该干些什么呢？
我们这一代人很奇怪，尽管拥有史上最先进的科学技术、最丰足的食物供给、最讲究的卫生设施，但生在福中不惜福（至少我这样）。早前几辈境况迥然有别，他们需要面对更多生死攸关的问题，医疗昂贵食品匮乏。如今我们对感冒怕得要死！那么到底有何收获？感恩节时，我甚至想不起来该感谢什么，虽说我并不庆祝感恩节，但内心深处确实没有多少感恩之情，节日于我无外乎远离学校自寻其乐，要多荒唐有多荒唐。 既然如此，为什么要过节呢？最佳答案莫过于扶植文化，其实欢度节日就是让你忙里偷闲专门与他人共享珍贵时光。然而，全民性节日用来强化国家凝聚力，因为在举国欢庆的日子里人人都沉浸在欢乐的气氛中，油然而生的爱国主义成为连接各个种族不同阶层的纽带。截至到目前为止，节日越来越少地被用来纪念已故总统和荣誉退伍军人，顶多放个假而已，我喜欢这样。 Today in History(历史上的今天): 2017 MathCounts Regional Competition(2017年初中数学分区赛) 2015: Chinese New Year Eve @ Lai Lai Garden(来来花园春节年夜饭) 
GHCS Teachers (光华中文学校老师) 
Square Dance (广场舞) 
Golden City Chinese Restaurant (金城酒家 02-18-2018) Crosslinks(相关博文): 2015 GHCS Teachers' Appreciation Dinner(2015年光华教师答谢晚宴) 9th Grade(高中一年级) |
