These Three Things: A Chinese Immigrant’s Reflection on American Holidays
I came to the United States with my parents at the age of twelve. Though we had some vague idea what Christmas was, we had very little knowledge of how it should make any difference in our lives. We were new to a foreign land whose people looked different from us and whose language we did not speak. It was the end of March when the leaves had just started budding and the days began to grow longer. The holiday season seemed a long time away. But one thing piqued my curiosity. Upon arriving in the United States, my uncle gave me a brief Chinese version of American history. Eager to learn more about this foreign land, I devoured the book in two weeks. It was through that book that I first learned about Thanksgiving. It seemed strange to me that Americans would devote a holiday just to give thanks to a Being that I did not believe existed. But I had never eaten turkey before and the prospect of tasting a whole roasted turkey made me excited for my first ever Thanksgiving.
