The Mid-Autumn Festival that could have been...

“Tomorrow is Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhongqiu Jie),” my husband announced.  “OK,” I thought, and then quickly forgot.

He brought home moon cakes from the Chinese store, and they set on the kitchen counter until five minutes before the kids’ bedtime when he suddenly remembered the lotus-bean treats. 

What followed next was a failed attempt to explain the holiday to our two kids through a badly translated and gory (no time for parental preview) Youtube video, and a brief moon cake taste-test (i.e. “You WILL try a bite of this!).  

“Surely there is a more enjoyable and educational way to celebrate this holiday,” my husband and I wondered as we sat on the couch after the kids had gone to bed. 

What could we have done differently to teach them about the story of Houyi and the moon goddess Chang'e? What could we have given them as a treat to celebrate and enjoy this holiday instead of the traditional lotus bean dessert, which their young palates have never really adjusted to?

After searching the web for fun and creative ways to celebrate with kids, I stumbled across Grace Lin’s beautiful book, Thanking the Moon, in which a Chinese American family heads out for a moonlight picnic, shares a mooncake and hot tea snack, and sends secret wishes up to the moon.

I’m not sure what our family life will look like one year from now, but I hope that when Mid-Autumn Festival rolls around (September 30, 2012!) we will be preparing for our own midnight picnic under the light of the moon.

Links:

History and traditions of the Mid-Autumn Festival: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival

All about the mooncake: http://www.familyculture.com/holidays/mooncake.htm

A traditional mooncake recipe for the adventurous baker: http://happyhomebaking.blogspot.com/2011/09/mid-autumn-fest.html

Grace Lin's book on the Mid-Autumn Festival: http://www.gracelin.com/content.php?page=thanking_moon

Shang Ke!

It's fall, which means that it's time to start looking for Chinese lessons for my six-year old.  Chinese-class hunting has become an annual ritual for our family ever since my daughter turned three.

"Chinese class?" many of our non-Chinese speaking friends incredulously ask.  "But don't you and your husband speak Chinese?"

"Yes," I usually explain.  "But my husband's native tongue is Shanghainese, a dialect of Mandarin that is like its completely own language."

I speak Mandarin, but it is my acquired tongue, so the Chinese that I teach my kids either has bad grammar or incorrect tones.  When my daughter was a baby, my husband would sometimes overhear me teaching her short phrases in Chinese.  His response:  "What are you trying to teach her to say?"
So I stuck with funny expressions and slang that were fun to use around the house (such as "stinky bottom" and "big head"), and hoped that she wouldn't repeat them to her grandparents on accident.

So back to Chinese lessons.  We tried sending L to the local Chinese school where she attended with other Chinese kids--those who had recently moved to the United States, biracial kids, and kids who had been adopted from China at birth.  That worked out okay until she turned five and the songs and games that she so loved...stopped. They were replaced with two hours of sitting in a chair and repeating Chinese words and phrases to her teacher, who often spoke in a loud monotone.

Next, we hired a teacher from China who was trained as a language instructor to give private lessons to my daughter and several other girls. The teacher brought the songs and games back, and my daughter began to love learning Chinese again. Sadly, our beloved teacher was not available this year so we started another search.

This year my girl will take private lessons with a native English speaker who is proficient in Chinese and dedicated to teaching young non-native speakers. My daughter is loving her classes so far.  Her teacher comes prepared with stickers, candy, and a panda puppet each week.  What little girl can resist these treats?

For now, my girl is excited to learn Chinese, and that is something to celebrate!