Happy Moon Cake Day!

Today I'm celebrating my first Moon Cake Day.

It's part of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and today it's Chinese tradition to think about the people that you miss. This is extremely fitting for me, as I am away from my hometown, family, and friends. When people eat moon cakes (which have been for sale virtually EVERYWHERE for the past couple weeks) they think about friends and family, and those that they miss.

This tradition, as near as I can tell from what Chinese people have told me, came from the story of an ancient hero, which I will now relay to you in perfect detail. Many years ago, there were 10 suns in the sky, which you have to admit is just too many. Seriously, it was so hot that people were dying and everyone was uncomfortable at the very least. So one guy, who happened to be an amazing archer, got sick of it and shot down nine of the suns. He said, "Come on, 10 suns is just overkill. 1... 1 is OK." <roughly translated>

Obviously people were really happy about this. Finally people's ice cream stopped melting so quickly, their lemonade stopped evaporating, and they could go to the beach without spontaneously combusting. So the archer was named a hero, and everyone wanted to hang out with him. And they did! But while he was off eating (probably free) dinners and having people toast his name and skilled archer hands, his wife was at home feeling neglected. As time went on, she even got depressed.

Then one day, I can't remember how, the hero got his hands on a pill that takes you directly to the moon. Someone gave it to him I think. But he didn't want to go to the moon, so he left it at home. He told his wife that it was poison, presumably so she wouldn't take it accidentally with her other, non-poisonous pills. But unfortunately, he didn't realize how depressed his wife was. It's a shame really; many couples have a hard time communicating, even regarding important matters.

His wife ended up taking the pill, hoping for suicide, but instead was whisked immediately to the moon. Her husband was devastated. After that, whenever he looked at the moon, he would think of his wife and how much he missed her. On the moon, she would make moon cakes and send them to him (which probably explains why moon cakes tend to be quite heavy, because they need to survive space travel).

Moon cake!

So today, in the spirit of that hero, I have been eating moon cakes and looking at the beautiful full moon, and thinking of people at home. The idea is that even though we are far apart, we can still look at the same moon and appreciate its beauty together. I think it's a great story, and a sweet, genuine tradition. I really appreciate it, especially in my current position. Happy Moon Cake Day everyone!