Disappearing

Disappearing
Today, many immigrants all over the world live with a new lifestyle. Their experiences bring a “half and half” culture to the new country. The immigrants’ lives are like an alien at times. They have to learn another language, they have to try other food that they have never eaten before and they have to obey new laws. Even though I moved to the United States a few years ago, I can’t forget everything from my hometown. As a Chinese-American, We can’t follow most of our traditions in the United States. Chinese New Year is the most important tradition, but it is disappearing in our new country.
Chinese people can no longer celebrate Chinese New Year in their new world - the United States. The Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is a great time when all the family members get together. On the Eve of the New Year, all of Chinese people will join together wherever they are. They come back home to have a supper feast. The food is varied. People prepare pigs, ducks and chickens. They discuss their life experiences in the past, and they talk about the future with each other. People stay a whole night to celebrate. They sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone. In the United States, Chinese people still work on the Chinese New Year day. It is a hard time that they get together in a so big holiday because they aren’t in China. On the other hand, they are affected by the new culture. They have followed another New Year, but this new New Year day is not their expectation, without firecracker, without happiness. Unlike Americans, many Chinese people don’t go to the church to celebrate this holiday. They only celebrate in their heart and in their hopes because their holiday is disappearing in the United States.
In addition, most Chinese people in the United State don’t have any holiday scenes. In China, they buy many decorations, materials, foods and clothing before Chinese New Year. They make everything in red because red means lucky and happy. They clean up every corner of the house to sweep away the bad luck in their hopes. Two sides of the doors will be pasted with the red color paper couplets. The text is always the theme or poetry of “happiness”, “Wealth’’ and “long life”. There are full of happiness wherever they see in China. It’s unlucky that people don’t need to prepare their Chinese New Year scenes in the United States. They have never pasted any paper couplets in front of the door. They don’t need to follow the rule of Chinese New Year. They almost forget all the Chinese New Year traditions. Sometimes, they don’t know who they are or where they are. Living in a new world will never be as easy as dreaming. Most Chinese can’t bring their holiday to their new world.
Finally, Chinese people have lost their traditional ceremony of Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is the most like holiday of the Chinese children. They wear their new clothing to play with their friends. They always show their new dress and decide who’s the best was. Children would greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy. They get lucky money with the red envelopes. The special ceremony of Chinese New Year is the parade of Dragon dance, Lion dance, and we set off fire crackers. It said that the lion, the dragon and the fire cracker can evict the bad spirits. When I was a child in China, the Chinese parade had the deepen affect on my memory. In the United States that Chinese people are living, even though there is a parade every year, but there are no more practicing about the real Chinese parade. They would see many American parades in the street, and only can set off the fire cracker in American Independence Day. That’s the custom in the United State, not in China. That’s all are disappearing in a new world.
As of today, the children who are born in Chinese-American families know nothing about Chinese New Year. When Chinese people immigrate to a new country, they have to adjust or adapt to their new culture and environment. Even though most of their traditions cannot be practiced in a new world, and it’s difficult, I hope our Chinese New Year isn’t disappearing for good, but that it can spread everywhere in the world, and that the new immigrants in the US find equally meaningful ways to celebrate our traditions.