Miraculous Lake Placid
I am an exchange teacher. I come from Beijing, China.
Before I came to Lake Placid I stayed In Westport. During that time, Whenever
I told people that I would live in Lake Placid all of them were excited
and cheered for me. I didn't know why. But I though Lake Placid was very
miraculous. After I got here, I found Lake Placid was so beautiful that
I liked it immediately.
In September, Mirror Lake, which used to be Bennet Pond,
the home to the village of Lake Placid celebrated it's 100th anniversary,
From 1800, when the Benntes settled down, until now Lake Placid has become
a highly developed area in the 6 million-acre Adirondack Park. In 1864,
the first Inn on Old Military road was the largest hotel. Now Lake Placid
has 35 major hotels. In 1895 Melville Dewey founded the Lake Placid Club,
which made Lake Placid synonymous with winter sports. Two Olympic games
were hosted here. The evolutions of Lake Placid was rapid and phenomenal.
I also visited John Brown's Farm and the Village Historic Museum, these
made me know more about Lake Placid. This quaint village has had an incredible
large history. I am full of curiosity.
It's Autumn now. Lake Placid becomes more colorful. Many
tourists come to see the changeable leaves and the beautiful scenery. I
feel lucky for staying in Lake Placid. I really love it. |
Hongwie Shi |
Chinese Spring Festival
Spring Festival is one of the most important Chinese traditional festivals.
It is the end of winter and the beginning of spring. It is Chinese New Year
according to the lunar calendar. It usually comes in January or February.
Before Spring Festival every family cleans their house.It is a complete
cleaning to sweep the bad luck away and make the room ready for the good
luck to enter.People prepare a lot of food before Spring Festival.They cook
chicken, pork, beef and fish. Fish means you will be richer and richer.They
also buy some peanuts , sunflower seeds, candies and other food for people
to snack.
On the Eve of Spring Festival all the members of the family get together
and have a big meal. At 12:00 midnight they eat dumplings. People stay up
for the whole night to welcome the New Year. They play games till the next
morning.
Before 12:00 on Spring Festival Eve people stick some red paper cuttings
and couplets ,which are short poems ,written on the red paper strips, on
the windows and on the side of the doors. It is done according to a story.
Long long ago, there was a spirit called Nian. He did all kinds of evil
things to people. People were so afraid of him.Then he was arrested in the
mountains by God . God only let him go out once a year. That was at the
end of the year.
It was also at the time of the Spring Festival. People
tried to get rid of Nian. They knew that Nian was afraid of the red color
and the big sounds. So people stick the red paper cuttings and the couplets
and set off the firecrackers to keep Nian away. It worked. Nian didn't dare
to come out of the mountains.
In China there are 12 years which represent 12 animals. The animals are
rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog
and pig. These 12 years repeat in a circle. People who were born in the
year belong to that animal year. On Spring Festival Eve, people who belong
to the coming year put on the red belt. Some people also put on red underwear,
red socks and red sweaters.They think the red color can keep bad luck away
from them. People wear this kind of red belt for at least 15 days. Some
people wear it for the whole year.
It is believed that if you are happy on the first day of Spring Festival
you will be happy in the whole year. If you cry on that day you will cry
for the whole year. So people prefer to do something happy on the first
day of Spring Festival. They put on new clothes. Kids put on new clothes
not only outside, but also inside. They are given red envelopes when they
say "Happy Spring Festival" to people. There is some money in
the envelopes. Parents will not punish their children on the first day of
Spring Festival even if the kids make them angry because they don't want
their kids to cry for the whole year.
There are five days for Spring Festival in the cities. On the fifth day,
people make dumplings again. There are two meanings for the dumplings this
time. One is the symbol of the end of the holidays. The other is the symbol
to seal the people 's lips who will say something bad to you. In the countryside,
people celebrate The Spring Festival for 15 days till the the next festival
called Light Festival. It is on the fifteenth day of Spring Festival. On
that day, people eat Yuan Xiao.
China is a very big country.Different areas have different ways to celebrate
Spring Festival.
Spring Festival is on January 24th in 2001. It is theyear of snake. People
who were born in 1917, 1929, 1941,1953,1965,1977,1989 and 2001, belong to
the snake year .The snakers are rich in wisdom and charm. They are romantic
and deep thinking and their intuition guides them strongly.They should avoid
procrastination and their stingy attitude towards money.They keep their
sense of humor about life.The snakers would be most content as a teacher,
philosopher, writer, psychiatrist, and fortune teller.
Thank you for reading this message. I hope you have a wonderful 2001.
Good luck!
A Chinese exchange teacher
Hongwei Shi
January, 2001