2016-11-20

【Aiden in English】

        Thanksgiving is a time to gather around a large table and have a good time. Whether it is with family, friends, or any other relationship, the tradition of coming together is extremely powerful. Because of skipping a grade, I switched Chinese classes at my time at Guanghua Chinese School. But the previous year never fully left my mind, lingering memories and thoughts continued to be stored throughout the years.

        Nowadays, it is hard to describe what it means to be together. Chinese culture usually saves these traditions for the Lunar New Year. Oddly, upon arriving at Easton Buffet for Thanksgiving, groups sprung up at the tables. My friend and I, both skipping levels, sat together, apart from most of the others. We just sat around, spending most of our virtual currency in a game. Obviously, the time spent not being together has grown many barriers. We did not talk much with others, as a sense of difference had grown between the groups. Not being the biggest fan of buffets, I hardly ate much at all. In fact, I’m quite sure I became sick during that dinner.

        Since this Thanksgiving is going to be quite uneventful, this piece should be the only one about Thanksgiving. I would, therefore, like to say some things I am thankful for. First come the basics everyone should be thankful for, such as fresh food, drinkable water, and a bed to sleep on. Life is never constant, and there is always a chance that in a blink of an eye, these things taken for granted can be stripped away. Even in America, jobs are a very large issue, and society is far from utopia. Everyone reading this should be thankful for the money and jobs they have, and that the income is enough to pay for whatever screen you are reading this article on. Sure, everyone thinks it is normal to have a computer and internet, but it really isn’t. There are enough people out there without these “normal” items, enough to make it seem “not normal”. This Thanksgiving, and every Thanksgiving for that matter, should dedicate some thanks to the simplicities and extra pleasures we have in life. More importantly, every living person needs to thank someone who has given him or her the necessities to live. Students can go to school because they don’t have to be worried about putting food on the table every night. But their guardians do, and so the children should be thankful. And to those who run the family, put food on the table. You always have someone to thank, and if not someone, then fortune or any religious figure because there are many problems happening to other people in which have not happened to you. So when everyone gathers around a table, he or she should have something to be thankful for.

        Happy Thanksgiving!

【紅霞譯文】

        感恩節既是大吃特吃的日子，又是普天同慶的佳節，無論闔家團聚，還是朋友派對，或者七大姑八大姨攛掇的各種名堂，群聚扎堆的節日傳統可謂深入民心。雖說緣於跳級，在賓州光華中文學校我調換了上課班級，但往日記憶永遠不會從腦海里徹底消失，即使時過境遷，許多陳年舊事依然歷歷在目。

        眼下，聚會所包含的寓意並非用一句話兩句話就能說清楚。依照中國習俗，大家通常把這種活動鎖定於農曆新年，而我們偏偏選在感恩節到來之際相約伊斯頓自助餐廳，我緊挨着另一位同樣有過跳級經歷的朋友坐了下來，略與多數來賓留有一段距離。咱哥倆交談甚歡玩得起勁，在一個遊戲上破費了不少虛擬鈔票。顯然，過去幾年來聚少離多已在朋友之間造成諸多隔閡，讓我們再度相聚時竟找不出彼此熟悉的話題，心裡難免有股局外人的感覺，再加上我本來就不感冒加肥食品，所以極少吃什麼東西，實際上當晚我的胃腸道確實有點不太對勁。

        既然本年度感恩節如期而至，這篇短文當以感恩為中心議題，我想藉此機會表達內心感激之情。每個人首先應該感激自己所擁有的一切，譬如：新鮮食物、可飲用水、安樂窩，我也不例外。生活本身變化無常，眨眼之間什麼事情都有可能發生，習以為常的東西稍縱即逝；即使在美國，就業市場一直存有很大問題，整個社會遠不及烏托邦完美無缺。如果你跟着我筆觸行走到這裡，就應該感激自己所擁有的財力和為家庭帶來收入的那份工作，有了錢，你才能閱讀閱覽器上出現的這篇文章。沒錯，很多人認為有電腦和互聯網挺正常的，其實不然，不少百姓並沒有所謂的“正常”東西，沒準這些全被納入“非正常”貨品之列。感恩節上話感恩，簡單快樂堪稱現實生活的基本元素，更重要的是每位都應感謝那些為我們生活默默奉獻的人：學生得以上學，因為他們無需操心每頓晚餐所享用的飯菜；身為監護人，也應該反過來感激其子女；各家忙碌一日三餐的主廚同樣不能忽視，你永遠都要對幫助過自己的人心存感激。假如你實在找不出需要感激的人，那麼就去感激鴻運高照蒙神賜福，因為世上沒人像你這麼僥倖。如此說來，今晚前來赴宴的所有來賓都應知恩圖報。

        感恩節快樂！