Phoenix Chinese Center for Senior Citizens celebrates Thanksgiving

Phoenix Chinese Center for Senior Citizens celebrates Thanksgiving (Contributed by Cui Zengqi) The annual Thanksgiving Day is here again. The Chinese Senior Citizens Center held an event ahead of schedule on October 19th...

(Contributed by Cui Zengqi) The annual Thanksgiving Day is here again. The Chinese Elderly Center held a lively celebration in advance on October 19th. The elderly gathered in the bright hall and put on festive costumes. As usual, the Cantonese choir and the Mandarin choir sang songs of praise and thanksgiving prepared for the festival respectively. Some individual solos and violin performances were also exciting. Interspersed with the program, people danced the array dance happily, and more and more people participated in the dance. People crowded together, and followed the beat of the music, sometimes turning to the left, sometimes to the right, jumping and turning, and sometimes swaying gracefully. People forgot their age, and the smiling faces showed the incomparable joy in their hearts. Yes, the old people live carefree in the United States, how happy they are! Thank you heaven! Thank God! Thank you America! Thanks to the motherland that raised us. At noon, the chefs prepared a delicious lunch for everyone. The main dish is of course turkey, with green beans, pumpkin pie and cake. This is a typical Thanksgiving meal. In addition, friends from the craft group of the Senior Citizens Association use the money accumulated from crafting to give each person a piece of fried chicken. To be honest, the hotpot cooked on this day tasted particularly delicious, which made people temporarily forget their usual dissatisfaction with the food. Most Chinese people didn’t know much about Thanksgiving in the past. There was no Thanksgiving in China, but it is a big holiday in the United States. There is a two-day national holiday, family reunions, Mercy float parades, Black Friday sales, and people rushing to buy, it's so lively. It's a bit like the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival or the Spring Festival, but not exactly the same. Saying "Thanksgiving" is the common conscience of mankind and the great wisdom in life. No matter you are an Easterner or a Westerner, no matter what your skin color is, or what creed you believe in, people all know how to thank heaven and nature for their blessings, their parents for their hardships, their brotherhood, and their friends and colleagues’ sincere care and friendship. These beautiful words passed down by Chinese people such as "Repay kindness with kindness", "Repay kindness with a drop of water with a spring of spring", "Never forget the man who dug the well when drinking water", embody the true feelings of gratitude. In life, while enjoying the wonderful "giving", we must also work hard to repay society and friends, restrain our greed, and live a more beautiful and harmonious life. Gratitude is a true feeling and should not be misled into a tool for flattering superiors and leaders or even giving gifts and accepting bribes. "The emperor's favor is mighty" and "Thanks to the Lord for his kindness" that were popular in the feudal period. It has been passed down to this day that people want to thank the party, the government, and superior leaders, which should not be included in the category of gratitude. In the United States, I have never heard flattering words from Americans thanking the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, or the government. Instead, I have heard more criticism and accusations. They believe that every public official, from national leaders to every public official, is supported by taxpayers and it is their duty to do a good job. The cultural differences between different countries and regions are so deep-rooted that some of us Chinese in the United States still bring these traditional concepts into real life from time to time.