Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

Happy Mid-Autumn(ˈôdəm) Festival

Today is Mid-Autumn Festival, which I know is traditionally a day of family reunion(rēˈyo͞onyən) in China. Today is a day of family reunion for me, because my parents arrive this afternoon from the United States.

My parents have visited China four times before. The first time was for a couple(ˈkəpəl) of weeks before I took a junior(ˈjo͞onyər) year abroad(əˈbrôd) at Tsinghua; the second was when we got married in 2004; the third was in 2009 when they stayed with us and learned Chinese for a month; and the fourth was shortly after our first son was born. This time they are coming to meet our second son, and also to visit my parents-in-law in southern(ˈsəT͟Hərn) China.

I know that some people don’t get excited about holidays, but they mean a lot to me, especially the holidays involving families coming together. I have so many wonderful memories of family gatherings(ˈgaT͟HəriNG) over Thanksgiving and Christmas when I was a child, and those gatherings still mean very much to me. In some ways they mean more now that we have children of our own.

It can be hard to prioritize(prīˈôrəˌtīz) family gatherings, especially when family lives far away. Since my parents live in the US and my wife’s parents live in southern China, this is definitely(ˈdef(ə)nətlē) the case for us. Still, though, we do our best to make it home for Christmas and Chinese New Year, even if it’s not possible every year.

Mid-Autumn Festival isn’t a festival that I grew up celebrating, but I’m grateful that we are able to celebrate it with my parents this year.