My History

CHRISTIANITY

One of the most complex features of Nigeria is its ethnicity. Like most other African nations, Nigeria has three; major religions: Christianity, Islam and traditional religions. These negative and positive characters have respectively contributed to the development of human capital. In Jos, the northern Nigeria, it is either the Muslims against the Christians or the Hausa/Fulani against Siyawa. There are various reasons as to why the religious crisis often leads to war in Jos. Whatever the reason, this religious crisis made my family go through many difficulties when living in Jos.

The fact that we are Christians and lived in Jos posed a big problem for my family. Before moving to Jos, we used to live in Lagos which is the commercial capital of Nigeria and our lives were like that of kings and queens. We ate what we wanted, went to places of our own without permission and so on. We were so happy there until one morning when my grandfather received a letter concerning a job he had to finish in Jos. The following week, we moved to Jos and we started facing difficulties that same week. We couldn’t go to church; neither could i put on trousers. Even in school as a Christian, you are not allowed to talk to a fellow Muslim. For example, my grandfather’s colleague who was a Muslim was just having a conversation outside his house with his two other friends complaining about the conflict and how it could be solved. He was beheaded in front of his own house, and the house too was burnt down.

The loss of my grandmother’s first home was also one of the hard difficulties we encountered when we moved to Jos. This made it difficult for us to survive; it was like the world was coming to an end for us. We were thrown out of our own house just because we refused to become Muslims. Getting food to eat was very difficult; to get a loaf of bread, we had to form long queues. One day, my cousin went to get some food for the day, but he decided to get some tubers of yam and some pepper on his way back home. He was stopped by some jihadists and asked if he was a Christian or a Muslim. He said he was a Muslim and he was given a gun to kill his family, with a promise that Allah would reward him in heaven with seven virgins. He refused and was killed, and then we were thrown out of our own house into the rain.

Finally, my grandfather suggested it was best for us to sneak out of Jos in the middle of the night before it was too late. We ran into the bush and camped there for a while until we found our way out to the closest state. Our lives were miserable. Even the government could not help the Jos situation; instead, they were scared themselves! During our struggle to make it to another state, we found some family in the same bush where we were, and we planned it together to get out despite the risk of danger and deaths. Our faith and determination saw us through and it ends abruptly.

The religious divide the once green and peaceful Nigeria into shreds. The Christians and Muslims killed one another because the Muslims wanted the land to be for them alone. Our lives in Jos would always be a memorable one. Even today, the Jos crisis is still going on. Thankfully, my family got back to Lagos safely and we have no problems whatsoever today. We were just fortunate, but some people were not as lucky as us. The different ethnic groups should be welded together and made to pledge loyalty to the nation, rather than stay divided.

History, My History

The Deadly Disease

About eight years ago, a disease, which was identified as a global health threat, broke out in Guangdong province of China. It killed hundreds of people, but there was no way of curing this disease at that time. It was SARS, which stands for “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome”. During the outbreak, I was living in Guangzhou, which is the central city of Guangdong province. SARS was spreading rapidly by air which means anybody could be infected from just talking to someone with the SARS virus. However, people did not realize the seriousness of SARS because they just seemed to have a common cold in the first stage. By the time people noticed that SARS was caused by a variant of a deadly virus, so many people had already died from the disease. SARS, which happened in my hometown, was the most serious disaster I have ever experienced, and it affected my parents and me in different ways.

First of all, in spring 2003, my school life changed during this horrible outbreak. After the first person with the SARS infection was confirmed to have died, and there was no medication to cure SARS, everyone was scared of this disease. Since SARS spreads very quickly by person to person contact, the government had to take action to control the epidemic as soon as possible. Of course, all schools were closed because children were very easily infected. The government suggested that all the kids should stay at home. For me, even though I was so happy that school was closed, I wasn’t allowed to play outside with my friends. Fortunately for me, both my parents needed to work, so I thought I could go out without their noticing. I did go outside several times, but I finally got caught by my parents. I still remember that they were very angry, and they punished me very seriously so that I did not dare to escape again. As time passed, about two weeks later, schools were reopened, and I had to go back to class. Nevertheless, people were still very alert. There were nurses and doctors at school who measured students’ body temperature every day. All students were required to wear masks. I hated the mask because it made me uncomfortable. Since it was closed to summer, the weather was too hot to breathe easily in the mask.

In addition to school life, SARS also affected my family’s lifestyle. The reason why people from all over the world were shocked by SARS was that many people with SARS infections traveled to many other countries. As a result, many people got infections even though they were living far away from China. Before the outbreak, I remember my parents had promised me that they would bring me to Hong Kong for summer break. On account of the disease, our travel plans were canceled since Hong Kong was one of the cities with a serious outbreak. To be honest, I was struggling with the decision and was trying to change my parents’ minds. Unfortunately, I failed at that. Instead, I stayed at home during the summer and rarely went out. Moreover, because of SARS, my family’s eating style changed. As a matter of fact, the SARS virus first was only contained in a specific type of wild animal. At the beginning, people were infected with SARS from eating those types of wild animals. After the outbreak, the government suggested that not buying or eating the wild animals was a good way to prevent the spread of SARS. Therefore, my parents did not only avoid eating out, but they also cooked everything very thoroughly, even now.

Certainly, SARS also had a great impact on my parent’ business. Since people got the disease originally from animal meat, the food industry was greatly affected. At that time, people stopped buying foods outside or going out to eat. Therefore, my parents had a hard time running a food factory which produced processed foods. Under the influence of SARS, the sales volume of my parents’ factory was greatly decreased, at one point even to zero. Because SARS came very fast, my parents did not quite evaluate the effects of the disease immediately. In fact, the factory had produced too much, but they could not sell the products. Therefore, the processed foods rotted very easily, and that made my parents lose a lot of money. Finally, they decided to close the factory for two months because continuing to produce was costing a lot of money, and they had no way of selling what they already had. Even after the outbreak, the effects still existed because people were scared of the unsafe food products. The impact of SARS continued to affect my parents’ business for future years.

SARS, which is the most fearful disease, affected my family’ life when I was young. However, I appreciate that my family was so lucky that we were not infected by the deadly virus, and the disease was extremely infectious in those days. I admit that I was less alert, and I did not realize the seriousness of the event. At that time, I complained that my parents did not let me play outside. I also sighed when I had to take the troublesome body check at school, and I was so displeased with the mask which I had to wear every day. Honestly, SARS affected life, but it let me learn that I really should listen to the elders. Fortunately, my parents stopped me going out and kept me safe. Due to SARS, even though my parents do not like to eat out now, I think it is actually not a bad thing because then we can eat healthily if we only cook at home. The financial problem is a history for my parents because they are all in the U.S. now. Although SARS made my parents lost a lot of money, they learned from it and figured out a better way to manage the effects. I think it was a valuable experience that can help them forever.

Floods have no Mercy

Kongzheng
ESL 100
March 13, 2011

Floods have no Mercy

“The flood has no mercy for anyone”. This is an ancient sentence from people who experiences disaster. It is devastating to everything. I think that is true, because one flood ruined everything for my family on one day. Who can forget that event? I will never forget how the flood came from the SongHua River in 1998. The river is near my hometown of Harbin City, China. My family lived beside the Songhua River. The flood made our family wretched and poor overnight. It devoured all our property, and our family finance suffered. We became poorer economically, and we could not connect to each other during the flood. Therefore, I can confirm that floods had no mercy for anyone.

There is first reason that the flood engulfed and devoured our house. Our house was older than the new buildings in the city. It was not very beautiful, but it was comfortable for us, and I had a lot of interesting memories that was in there. I grew up there. When the flood came from Songhua River, it spread very quickly and rushed to the nearby river and buildings. The government ordered the emergency commands to tell people to leave the counties, towns and villages out around the city, people could not carried any things. Before the flood, we lived in with a huge amount of farmland, but we lost all our farmland by the flood. We planted lots of crops, but they were not mature yet and the flood covered it. My mother liked to feed fowls and domestic animals, Chickens, pigs, and horse were all killed by the flood.

The second reason is my family economic was divested and my family became poorer by the flood. My parents worked hard for my family. We didn’t have much mother, but we never lacked money to buy something. My family members didn’t have good income for about one year, caused by the flood. In addition, our properties did not have insurance. So we did not have any help from the government. We heard the government had issued financial aid to the disaster areas, but where did the money? We could not ask, because the local official had not sent any money to us. In addition, we lost 30,000.00 Yuan cash due to the flood. The Chinese people like saving cash at home. It is a traditional Chinese habit. So, my parents were saving money at home also. In their mind, they thought that money was best saved at home. My mother ran to the mountain. She could not get the money away. It was lost due to the flood.

Here was the third reason the flood had no mercy on us. My family members could not connect to each other during the flood. My mother stayed on the mountain outside for about seven days. I was so anxious that I could not connect to my mother. I was watching TV to get information about my homeland flooding. There were not roads to anywhere. The local streets and highways only had high water. It was like ocean. In addition, there weren’t any traffic tools on there. The communication equipment was damaged by the flood. There were no any signal, no any telephone, no any computer and no any way to send mail. The cell-phone is not popular ten years ago, especially for poor people. Only rich people or officers have cell-phones, but it was not available during the flood. And my father and my brothers were in the different places, and they could not connect with each other either. The flood was really preventing us connecting to each other.

Therefore, the flood destroyed everything for my family. We had a big experience about the disaster bringing suffering to us. I think that the government should be had the way to save the people. I wish that human beings should use their wisdom and always keep aware to treat people of nature disasters at least evading natural disasters such as floods. Since, we could not found our original farmland due to the flood. Our family economy was hard at that time by the flood. We became poorer due to the flood. However, through this event, I was confirmed that “flood has no mercy for anyone” is true.

Different Style of Courtesy

KongZheng Shi
ESL 100
Jan 5, 2011

Different Style of Courtesy

Styles of courtesy are different between counties and societies. I have learned traditional Buddhist courtesy since I became a Buddhist nun. For more than twenty years I have, upon meeting people, always obeyed the Buddhist custom of smiling and saying “Amitoufo” with palms together. However in America, it is difficult to obey some Buddhist rules, and, as a result, I feel a loss at those times when I am trying to follow the styles of courtesy of America.

I realize there are different styles of courtesy associated with different feelings although different responses may have the same meaning. Most Chinese people usually shake hands with each other and reserve hugging for serious occasions. In America people like to hug each other to show casual affection. Whether male or female, they may hug each other even when meeting the first time. In 2002, I joined a mourning ceremony with an American family. I was thinking of using my Buddhism style of courtesy---putting my palms to together for them. When an old man suddenly came over to hug me, my subconscious mind pushed me to withdraw. I became speechless with a red face; it made me embarrassed. He was also perplexed. I thought that he was very rude because in Buddhism just putting their palms together with a little bow means respect.

Buddhism always shows that being courteous is sacred. In China people are unlikely do a behavior that would seem strange to others. For example, people would not smile at someone they don’t know. Younger girls have to be especially careful when in the company of a man they do not know, but in America strangers often smile at each other. They even wink and make signs to one another. I know that this is part of an easy- going attitude, which is cultural. In China it would likely be interpreted as indicating you love them, or they may think you are degrading them. In other words, if a girl sees a man doing this to her, maybe she thinks men are not respectful and she will become afraid of men. This person may be frivolous and a bad man. In Buddhism, people can always smile at people, but they cannot wink or make faces that are frivolous toward other people because the Buddha is holy and every belief is serious. Smiling means kindness. Loving-kindness and compassion are greatly valued and seen as the mind of Buddha’s teachings. By practicing this way, a person becomes a mind of Buddha. This represents being mindful of how sacred Buddha is.

Another major difference between American and Buddhism culture is when people gather to eat. Before Buddhists start their meal, they chant and make offerings to the Buddha. They show appreciation for the donation of the meal and feel gratitude as well as compassion for the people who prepared it. During meal times Buddhists often eat in total silence in order to be mindful. Americans talk during meals and use this time to be social and discuss their day. They are less mindful of what they are eating. If I am silence during a meal with American friends, they wonder why she is so quiet? Perhaps she is not social or is dissatisfied with the food. The teaching of the Buddha is that food is not for entertainment, not for intoxication, not for fattening, not for beautification, but merely to maintain this body for the continuation of life. Buddhists do not desires and attachments to delicious food. Therefore, this is a major difference of customs between American and Buddhism.

As a Buddhist nun living in America, I have realized that there may be different styles of courtesy between countries and societies. However, I remain faithful to my culture and beliefs. I continue to put my palms together for people. I will also continue to smile to people and say “Amituofo,” even when meeting the first time. However, even after all this time in America, I sometimes feel lost when following American culture. I think that if the Buddha were alive today, he would tell us to follow the American customs in a kind and compassionate way. In some situations it might be helpful for Americans to be more mindful and see the value of Buddhist teachings.

unaccustomed

Unaccustomed

“I love you”, “ jet'aime”, “s'agapo”, “ jeg elsker de”, “wo ai ni”. The actor expressed love in five different languages to his girlfriend. When I watched that Chinese romantic movie, I suddenly realized that the languages play an important role in our lives. Language is the first way to make us start getting in touch with the new country. When I graduated from high school, I made an important change in my life when I came to the United States without parents, friends, or even communication skills. I tried to start adapting this strange country. However, I am Chinese after all, and I am still unaccustomed to the ways of communication in this country.

 I find it strange that people in the U.S have communication habits where they repeat phrases all the time. I have notice people say “I am sorry” many time to me, even if they didn’t make any mistakes or say any bad sentences. I remember the first day I worked at the nail solon, I did the pedicure for a woman, and she looked friendly and nice. When she came into the nail solon, I said “Can I help you?” to her, but the first time I said it she didn’t hear clearly, so she said “I am sorry”. I repeated my sentence to her. She answered me with what she needed done. Then, I told her to pick a color for the polish for her toes. At the same time, I walked her to the pedicure chair and turned on the water, and she quickly said, “I am sorry”, and moved to the side to let me pass. When she was seated in the pedicure chair, I started to do her feet and I patted her left foot, but she didn’t feel it. As soon as she came to realize that she needed to put out her left foot, she said “I am sorry” again. The last time she said “I am sorry” to me was because she didn’t know what color was better for her. That day, I felt so strange because of one sentence “I am sorry”. In China, people just say “sorry” when they make mistakes. However, in the U.S, I can hear “sorry” five times from one person even though she didn’t make any mistakes. The phrase “I am sorry doesn’t have only one meaning in English. There are many meanings of “I am sorry” depending on the context.

            When I came to the United States, I felt too shy to make good cultural greetings to American people. I was afraid of saying “How are you?” I am just used to saying “hello” instead of “How are you?” It was also very uncomfortable for me to answer the questions that people asked me “How are you today?” In China, people usually say “hello” and sometimes they just smile at people when they meet a stranger. If people meet a person that she or he knows, they will ask “How are you?”, but the other people will answer them according to their real feeling about life. Such as, “I have been tired recently”, “I feel bad “. I have lived in America for one and a half years, and I never heard people say “I am bad” or “I feel tired”. They just answer “fine”, “ok”, and “good”. I know these sentences are just a greeting for people. I also know it may be just a format for people to communicate. However, I feel so unaccustomed to asking “How are you?” and answering it. This is just part of the communication culture in America. People want to greet other people, but they don’t really want to have a real conversation. Even though I am from China, I think I will eventually try to fit into the culture of this country.

                                              

            In addition, one of the hardest parts of communicating in the U.S is that sometimes I can’t even communicate with Chinese people here. It is so terrible that I am Chinese, but I don’t understand what the Chinese who speak Cantonese talk about in America. I am proud that China is one of the biggest countries in the world, but to my surprise, I don’t know what my friends who speak Cantonese are talking about. I am from Xi’an, China, so I just speak Mandarin. When I came to American, I found that there are many people from China, but from different regions. A half year ago, I had an English class at school where we introduced ourselves. There were four people in my group: three Chinese and one from Korea, but the other two Chinese students were both from Guangdong, China and they spoke Cantonese. They talked about something, but I didn’t understand anything. The Korean classmate asked me what they were talking about, but I just answered that I didn’t know either. He was surprised to find out we were all from China, but I didn’t understand what they were talking about. It made me feel so bad.

                                           

            While I am in this strange country, America, I should try my best to completely adapt into its culture. However, I was born in my home country, China where I spent almost twenty years. I am habituated to communicating with people in Chinese with a specific communication style, and I still feel unaccustomed to the habits and ways of the communication in the United States. Nevertheless, this is just the beginning in America and I will overcome this unaccustomed feeling in my new life. In the near future, I really hope that will have a handsome man will use five different languages to express his love, and not always say “sorry” to me.

The Destiny Boat

The Destiny Boat

              
                   1975 was the significant milestone of victory in Vietnam’s History. It’s the final year of the Vietnam War and also the birth of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It seemed that the liberation to bring freedom to the country was something all Vietnamese should have been happy for; however, my grandparents’ family was not. In fact, the liberation was not considered as a “victory” to Southern Vietnam at that time, where the Republic government used to be. It is well known that after the Communist took over the country, many Southern Vietnamese tried to escape the country to the U.S. Therefore, the only way to leave the country at that time was to navigate the seas. Even though it was very risky because of Thai pirates and the storms, people still sold all of their property just to buy a ticket to get on a boat. My grandparents’ family was one of them. My grandparents had thirteen children, and they decided to send some of them on the boat, hoping they could seek for a better life somewhere overseas. Gambling with her life, my mom also got on the boat with her sister without knowing her life would change forever after that day.

“It was not easy”, said my mom. I bet it was not. Leaving the homeland and family to the unsecure destination was not an easy decision. She told me the day she stepped on the boat with her sister, she was scared. It was a very small boat but it was overloaded with people. For the Communism army not to know, my mom and others had to lie down on the bottom of the boat and be covered by a blanket. To be more secretive, they had to leave at night. Nonetheless, the plan of escape was very adventurous. The boatman took this small boat somewhere in the Pacific Ocean where they would stay for couple days while waiting for the bigger boat of other Republic countries to pick them up. Because of using the sea transportation, the waiting spot couldn’t be stable. Some boats were lucky, and they got picked up within three days, but that was very rare. On the other hand, Most of the boat got hijacked, lost or sank. My mom told me she was on the boat for more than three days hoping and waiting. As the reserved food was running out, the fear of dying increased for everybody on the boat. Lucky enough, they finally saw the big boat came to them. Everybody was happily waving to the big boat in tears, trying their best to make a sign. The big boat saw them and of course, picked them up. By the time everybody got in the boat, the joy immediately was replaced by the great shock: it was a Communist fishing boat. My mom and everybody else got arrested and were brought back to where they left.

Panic and disappointed, my mom didn’t know where her life would lead to. My mom and all the people on the boat, however, got arrested by the time they reached land. She told me, the communism army was very angry with the passengers. Furthermore, the army was yelling and shooting toward the group of people. My mom and her sister for the first time were scared for their lives. Fortunately, no one got shot. My mom and her sister were soon put in jail. “Those were the worst days of my life” said my mom with her eyes looking to nowhere. She said everything she did was strictly controlled. They set the time to sleep, wake up, shower and even to use the toilet. After three months got arrested, my mom and her sister were finally released. She soon realized the place she had been taken into custody for three months was Ca Mau, a small town in Southeastern Vietnam. As what Vietnamese always say “Within the bad luck, there’s good luck.” At this place, my mom met my dad for the first time. From what my mom told me that her first impression about my dad was an unattractive and old-fashion country guy. Knowing my mom’s and her sister’s situation, my dad decided to help them. He helped my mom to contact to her family in Saigon, letting them know about the failed plan. The kindness of my dad had touched my mom’s heart and she fell in love with him at that moment. As soon as my grandparents knew about the news, they soon picked up their daughters and went back to Saigon. My mom said goodbye to my dad, but she knew that her heart now belonged to this kind country man. After that, they, of course, still kept in touch. Soon enough, my dad moved to Saigon to find a job. “I wasn’t sure if that was his sleek excuse to be close to me” my mom told me with a smile on her face.  They officially went out and got married after two years of dating. 

After 1975, Saigon had changed its name into Ho Chi Minh City with a completely new image. All the property of the “old” Saigon now belonged to the new government. The “Saigoners” had to start their lives all over again. With two empty hands, the just married couple – my parents, started to build up their future. After the war and with the new government, the city was totally unorganized and disorderly. Finding a job at that time was very hard for my dad. In the end, he decided to work as “xe om”, which people considered as very low-class job. With this job, my dad had to spend the whole day outside at the crossroad with his second-hand motorcycle waiting to see if there was anyone wanting to pay for a ride. It was a very tiring job with little income. The income was actually depended on your luck. If it was your lucky day, you could have many customers who wanted rides. If not, you went home with a hungry stomach. However, for his strong love to my mom and me, who was just an infant inside my mom’s stomach, he didn’t complain about anything but continuing to work hard. Years and years went by and my parents finally had enough money to buy a house. My dad, with his kindness and laborious attitude, my dad soon had many good friends that helped him to get a better job. From a person who had nothing, now my dad has a small and stable business, a new house and a happy family. When I finished high school, my parents told me about their plan to send me to the U.S to study abroad. I was surprised. It was not an easy decision because studying abroad costs a lot. “But for your future, we are willing to do anything” said my mom. “Your grandparents always wanted this for me, now; it’s my duty to make it happen for you”. I was speechless.

Sometimes, I wonder what would have happened, if my mom had made it to America that year. For certain, she wouldn’t have met my dad and my brother and I wouldn’t have been born to this world. I’m glad that it happened. I’m grateful to be born in my family and to be my mom and my dad’s son. After my mom’s story, I do believe in fate. Everything happens for a reason. Therefore, on that destiny boat, my mom couldn’t get to where she wanted to, but she met my dad. “Never in my life, did I regret meeting your dad” my mom smiled.

The Lost Nian Monster in America

The Nian Monster was coming. A few days ago, it was the Chinese New Year's Day. The Nian Monster is a cruel, terrible, wild animal, and in ancient times people believed the Nian Monster was extremely afraid of the color red, fire and the loud noises. Therefore, people pasted red paper on the wall and shot off firecrackers and fireworks to avoid the Nian Monster. In order to celebrate this big victory, Chinese people have Chinese traditional New Year's Day. Nevertheless, this holiday has gone through many changes in the U.S..

When the New Year is coming, the new Chinese immigrants will feel so lonely in America. There was a big snow storm on New Year's Eve this year in Chicago, so we didn't have enough friends and relatives to celebrate the New Year. In China, Chinese people had a lot of friends and relatives that came together to play Mah-jong. It is like a gambling game wheree four people sit on one table, and the other people sit around with them. We used to chat with each other and that made us so happy on New Year's Day. When twelve o'clock was coming on New Year's Eve, my family would send text messages with beautiful words in Chinese or funny picture messages to our friends, or call our relatives. Meanwhile, we had to visit some relatives' homes the next day. Then the elder people would give the younger people red packets with money. But this year in America, I couldn't find any traditional actions. When the New Year was coming this year, my family felt homesick because we didn't have enough friends or relatives in America, and the special holiday feeling was gone.

In addition,there are so many New Year celebrations that have been lost in translation since I arrived in this country. Every New Year, Chinese people normally paste the new spring festival red couplets with Chinese words to welcome the New Year. At 12 o'clock on the New Year, we should shoot off firecrackers and fireworks. At this moment, it was so noisy and lively outside. Those two actions were done in order to scare the Nian Monster away in ancient times. However, I didn't see any store selling spring festival couplets or firecrackers in Chicago's Chinatown. Lastly, a few days before the New Year, every family is supposed to worship our own ancestors and deities. Then we burn some fake paper money to our ancestors that have died. However, our apartment is made of wood in America, so if we burn the paper money at home, it will make the smoke alarm go off. That's why I never see anyone doing it in America. The other reason is that people are so busy with their own jobs. In China, we have a long vacation to celebrate New Year's coming. But New Year's Day just belongs to Chinese people in the U.S.A, so Chinese people also have to work during the New Year in America. Working made us so tired. That was one of the reasons that people didn't have enough time to prepare anything for the New Year. The spring festival couplets, firecrackers, fireworks and worship of our own ancestors are almost all missing during the Chinese New Year in America.

Finally, in China, Chinese people typically have some essential foods to prepare when the New Year is coming. First of all, we prepare the ricewine because we call the wine for "jiu" in Chinese. It's the same pronunciation as long in Chinese. The rice symbolizes a bountiful harvest. That's why when the New Year is coming, we make rice wine. It symbolizes it will have a full harvest for a long time in the following year. Next, we make dumplings, and the insides are made with everything mixed together. Eating dumplings means you will also have a bountiful harvest and more wealth in the next whole year. Lastly, we make lots of rice until the next day which symbolizes Chinese people will have enough food next year. In Chinese, we have a saying that people will get plenty of clothing and food because of the overnight rice. In contrast, how many people remember these customs in America?Chinese people in America just cook a little more food than average days. Meanwhile, the Chinese New Year is so simple in America. There were few Chinese that celebrated the New Year in America, and it was so much more quiet than it would have been in China.

Unfortunately, the big change in America about the Chinese New Year is that offspring who are born in America forget the meaning of the New Year's holiday. After generations, Chinese Americans will forget their own culture. What is the Nian Monster? Why we should celebrate avoiding Nian Monster when the Nian Monster was coming? In America, we have lost our own Nian Monster. I hope Chinese Americans will continue making the essential foods, celebrating the Chinese New Year with our family, pasting the spring festival couplets and worshipping our ancestors in America. I miss the tranditional Chinese New Year in my hometown.