The Moon Festival

Last week was witness to one of the biggest festivals celebrated in China: the Moon Festival. Also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, this holiday is most easily compared to the American Thanksgiving. An evening of reunion, celebration, and of course good food, this festival is incredible. I have some background knowledge of Chinese language and culture (just two years), so this kind of stuff tends to be super cool for me. My wall is home to many post-it notes with Chinese characters and pinyin on them—just a little fascinated.

What is the Moon Festival about anyway? As with many other traditions in East Asian culture, there is a legend. A long time ago, there was a hero named Hou Yi. When ten suns rose into the sky, he shot nine of them down with his bow and arrow. Having saved the people from a terrible fate, Hou Yi was given an elixir to grant him eternal life. Not wanting to live forever without his wife, Chang’e, Hou Yi gave Chang’e the elixir to keep. While out hunting, a thief breaks into Hou Yi’s home, attempting to pry away the elixir. Chang’e refuses to hand it over, and drinks it. She then flew off, making the Moon her home, so she could watch over her husband. People offered up sacrifices, thanking Chang’e for her bravery.

This festival also occurs around the time of the harvest. When there is a good harvest, people gather, make food, and celebrate. This, mixed with the legend of Chang’e, provides a sort of framework to modern-day ways of celebrating this holiday. First, the moon. This festival is called the Moon Festival because it takes place on the eighth moon of the lunar calendar. The full moon is often tied to rejuvenation, as Chang'e is a goddess of immortality. All over Chinese culture, the moon holds quite a high importance. The sacrifices offered up to Chang’e in the legend were fruits and cake. This brings me to the Moon Cake, a traditional food eaten on this festival. 

Might I add that red bean filling is my favorite?

Last weekend, I attended a biweekly summer event called Waterfire, native event in Rhode Island. The river going through the city of Providence is filled with floating fire pits: fire out of its natural environment. The whole event brings together people from all over the world, and of course featured a Chinese group. There were dragon dances performed, and lions dancing in the streets (they were awesome, by the way. A couple of my friends performed). With the fire in the river, the waning full moon in the dark sky, and dumpling in hand, there was certainly an air of romanticism in the air.

Back to... Hogwarts?

Firstly, I have successfully uploaded my video where I review the book Paper Towns by John Green. You can check it out here. Tell me what you think!

Secondly, I have once again returned to that most noble of endeavors—school. Officially speaking, I am enrolled in my final year of Muggle school. But, as the first of September has passed, I’m going to refer to it as my seventh and final year at Hogwarts. That feeling you get before mounting a rollercoaster? The mix of terror and excitement knotting up in your chest? That was my summer; but now I’ve gotten on the rollercoaster, and there is no getting off until the ride is over. It’s quite hard to believe that at the end of next spring, I will have to say good-bye to my beloved school and enter the strange world of adulthood. Ah, yes, it is all bittersweet.

Bittersweet-ness aside, it is a year where I have the chance to accomplish the most I have in all of my years of schooling. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had to save the world in what would have been their last years at Hogwarts. I probably won’t end up having to track down the Dark Lord and finish him at last or anything, but I do have many plans, plans that are actually happening.

In the same way that Hogwarts students must take O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s, us American Muggles get to take ACT or SAT (standardized tests). Or if you are crazy like me, both. One of the first steps to the college application process is having these standardized test scores. It is a facetious process to kids my age everywhere, but unfortunately necessary . The idea of anything after school is over is kind of unreal to most in my class. But nevertheless, we just go with it, like the twists and turns of the rollercoaster track.

Being of upperclassman status, there are even more opportunities than ever before. This means projects. And by projects, I mean Harry Potter Alliance (HPA for short). In a previous post, I talked about the work that the HPA does. In a phrase, activism Harry Potter-style. A group of students and I will be decreasing world suck through fundraisers, drives, and other campaigns. One of my goals is to make the world a better place, and hopefully I can really get started on that feat this year.

Besides this blog, I will be incorporating writing into my final year in another way: starting a school magazine. Not only will tons of students in my school be able to exhibit their own writing, but they will also get to learn a bit about the publishing and mass media industries.

Basically, this year is going to be a blast. It’ll go by faster than the speed of light (relatively anyway). Even though I will have to bid farewell to my school all too soon, it will always be there to welcome me home.