Dinner on Spring Festival

The Spring Festival is a special holiday for Chinese people. In Chinese culture, the day after the Spring Festival is the beginning of a new year. On that day, each family will celebrate it in their own way. Based on the Chinese culture, family should gather together on the Eve of the Spring Festival and celebrate the holiday together. Moreover, the dinner on Spring Festival is very delicious. It contains fish, chicken, beef, pork, carrot, corns….the most important and indispensable food on the Spring Festival’s dinner is the dumpling. In Chinese culture, the dumpling is a representative of the luck. Eating Dumpling on the Eve of the Spring Festival is the symbol of get good luck in the coming year. So that’s why the dumpling is the most important food appears on the dinner of the Spring Festival. Another tradition of the Spring Festival is light the fireworks on the midnight. This kind of tradition is based on a legend. Long time ago, there is an atrocious monster. This monster is ugly and carnivorous and it only appears on the Eve of the Spring Festival. Unfortunately, no one can kill this monster so that everyone is afraid of this monster. One day, a smart person comes up with a great idea: drive away the monster instead of kill it. Because the monster is afraid of fire and light, so people decide to light the fireworks all night on Spring Festival in order to drive away the monster and this idea works pretty well. So after long time’s evolution, it becomes a tradition of the Spring Festival. Among all the festivals and holidays, the Spring Festival is the most meaningful festival for me. I will never forget the food I eat and the happiness I get in the Spring Festival.

Last year, 2011, is a great year for me. I took the SAT test and get a very high score; I received the offer of the University of Denver and also the scholarships; I celebrated my 18^th birthday with my friends and my family. Most important, last year is the last chance for me to celebrate the Spring Festival with my family in China. I will never forget the day January 23^rd, because it is the date of the Spring Festival in 2011. In the morning of that day, my mom and grandma got up early to prepare the big dinner. They cleaned the fish, cut the vegetables, sliced the beef and pork, bowled the sweet porridge… Around 4 o’clock in the afternoon, everything was ready and the food looks tempting. The fish was in the center of a round plate with some carrots as a decoration; the beef was covered by gravy; the sweet porridge was contained by a beautiful glass bowl. We lighted part of the fireworks before we started the dinner. Then we started eating and sent wishes. My mom wished me have a great grade in college while my grandmother wished me have a happy time in my college. I wished my grandmother becomes healthier and my mother becomes more beautiful. The dinner on the Eve of Spring Festival always lasted two hours. My mother, father, aunts, uncles, grandparent, sisters and brothers all gather together on my grandparent house. We eat together, talk together, and laugh together. These two hours must be the happiest time I had in my life.

Now I am a college student in United States. Because I have no chance to go back to China on the Spring Festival of this year, so I celebrate it with my friends here. Although we cooked the same food as I had last year, I still feel that something is different. Not only the taste of the food, but also the emotions and feelings. The friendship is totally different from the love of parent, family. Wherever we are, our parent will always care about our health and feelings. The dinner on the Eve of Spring Festival is really significant and unforgettable for me because I can feel and touch the love from my family. This kind of love has no shape, no color, but it really exists in this world. When I feel lonely and lost, I will always tell myself: “Don’t worry, you have already had the warmest family in the world, what else can stop you moving forward?” I really want to thanks to my parent and grandparent because they give me the power and strength to solve the problems I meet in my life. And because their love is always in my back, I am not afraid of anything.

The dinner on the Eve of Spring Festival is really important for me. Not only it tastes delicious, but also it brings me the love of my family. I know I am an eighteen years old girl, so I should grow up and become more and more independent. But no matter where I am, my family will always be the last stop of my life. 

Food connects culture and feelings

  Food is not only the thing we eat, but also the thing that connects our heart with our culture and feelings. In the article “Home Run: My Journey Back to Korean Food”, which is written by Ahn, the author uses the Korean food to memorize the culture in his hometown and the love of his parent. When his parent was alive, they always cook the Korean food for the author. But after they died, the author feels lost because he thinks that the traditional Korean food is far away from him, so is the tradition Korean culture. No one can cook the traditional food like his parent. So he decides to cook the Korean food himself and he also wants his son and his wife know about the Korean culture. He does all these things in order not to forget his root and the Korean culture—the culture from his hometown. Different from Ahn, Nicholson, the author of the article “Eating White”, mentions a new concept of the food: the comfort food. The comfort food is not the food that cooks easy or the food that is cheap, it represents the food that makes people relax. It can be everything. Healthy food, unhealthy food, savory food, unsavory food… According to the author’s description, the comfort food for his mother is the cheese sandwich with a glass of cold milk. These foods seem not that healthy, but in fact they are the author’s mother’s most wanted food. Based on the concept of the comfort food and the author’s memory about his mother, Nicolson wants to let us know this kind of thought: the food not only brings the nutrition to us, but also brings the happiness and the great memory to us. When eating the meal, the author remembers the happy time he and his mother spend together. I am now alone in the United States. My family and my root are all in China. I do sometimes miss my mother and father and when I taste the Chinese food here, I will always remember the food that is cooked by my mother. Everything my mom cooked for me contains her love to me. This kind of love is precious than any other things in the world.

A wonderful and unforgettable dinner

Yesterday is the last day of the spring break. Our dining hall did not open yesterday, so I have to had the dinner in my friend’s house. Because we have some vegetables, meat, and fruits, so we decided to make the hotpot. The reason we chose to make a hotpot is that it is easy and quick. We just have to cut the vegetables into small cubes and slice the meats into pieces, then put all these stuffs into the bowling water. We made our job clear: my friend slice the meat while I deal with the vegetables. After 20 minutes, everything is done. The meat and vegetables looked tempting and the fruit looked beautiful and fresh. We sat around the table and started eating. It is really an unforgettable experience for me. I enjoy having dinner with my friends because we can eat together, chat together, and laugh together. We talked about the places we visit during spring break. One girl went to Orlando, one girl went to Seattle, and my friend and I went to New York City. We all enjoy our journey a lot. The thing we share is not only the food, but also the happiness. So I wish I can spend more time with my friends than stay alone in the future.