A cornucopia of diversity
Students share their ways of giving thanks
Kari Williams
Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: A&E
China, Iran, USA, Nigeria, India
From mooncakes to Nigerian dancing to fried turkey gone wrong, SIUE's students, both national and international, celebrate Thanksgiving, or their versions thereof.
Cultural differences aside, the basis of any gathering-whether a traditional Thanksgiving feast, Iranian New Year or Mid-Autumn Festival is the importance of family and glue that holds the festivities together.
Mass communications graduate student Wenjia Yang, a China native, honors the Chinese holiday known as Mid-Autumn Festival.
"Every year when the festival comes, people go home from every corner of the country to meet their family and have dinner with them," Yang said.
Mid-Autumn Festival has its roots in the story of a beautiful woman "who flies to the moon," and also in worshipping the moon itself. Yang said she believes the story is geared toward children. The largest part of the festival, which is based on the lunar calendar, is gathering with family and celebrating.
According to Yang, mooncakes are to Mid-Autumn Festival what turkey is to Thanksgiving.
"That's a central part for the festival, the mooncake. It's the special dessert … It's like a cookie with nuts and different frosting," Yang said.
As part of tradition, parents teach children how to make lanterns, which, according to Yang, the children place
in the river and are symbolic of "problems and worries floating away."
Comparable to Thanksgiving, Yang said one of the biggest parts of Mid-Autumn Festival is sitting down with the entire family for a feast. Yang will not return home for the celebration and said she misses the family togetherness the most.
When Yang explains Mid-Autumn Festival, she said she calls it "China's Thanksgiving."
"[Americans] know how to understand [each] other, to help them. And the other thing [that I relate] to is the whole family get-together," Yang said.
From mooncakes to Nigerian dancing to fried turkey gone wrong, SIUE's students, both national and international, celebrate Thanksgiving, or their versions thereof.
Cultural differences aside, the basis of any gathering-whether a traditional Thanksgiving feast, Iranian New Year or Mid-Autumn Festival is the importance of family and glue that holds the festivities together.
Mass communications graduate student Wenjia Yang, a China native, honors the Chinese holiday known as Mid-Autumn Festival.
"Every year when the festival comes, people go home from every corner of the country to meet their family and have dinner with them," Yang said.
Mid-Autumn Festival has its roots in the story of a beautiful woman "who flies to the moon," and also in worshipping the moon itself. Yang said she believes the story is geared toward children. The largest part of the festival, which is based on the lunar calendar, is gathering with family and celebrating.
According to Yang, mooncakes are to Mid-Autumn Festival what turkey is to Thanksgiving.
"That's a central part for the festival, the mooncake. It's the special dessert … It's like a cookie with nuts and different frosting," Yang said.
As part of tradition, parents teach children how to make lanterns, which, according to Yang, the children place
in the river and are symbolic of "problems and worries floating away."
Comparable to Thanksgiving, Yang said one of the biggest parts of Mid-Autumn Festival is sitting down with the entire family for a feast. Yang will not return home for the celebration and said she misses the family togetherness the most.
When Yang explains Mid-Autumn Festival, she said she calls it "China's Thanksgiving."
"[Americans] know how to understand [each] other, to help them. And the other thing [that I relate] to is the whole family get-together," Yang said.
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