A Winn Dixie Thanksgiving

We just celebrated Duan Wu Jie last week and I thought I'd fill you in on the history and how my attempts to embrace the culture by celebrating this holiday went!

Daun Wu Jie or the Dragon Boat Festival (from about.com) "is meant to honor Qu Yuan (340-278 BC.), the pioneer poet of ancient China. Qu Yuan was a famous poet who was also concerned about the fate of his government. Unfortunately his stature aroused the jealousy of the king, who banished him to a remote area. The poet despaired of the government and its policies. When the state's capital was captured by enemies, he committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River (on May 5th according to the Chinese lunar calendar). The Chinese people felt this loss deeply, as he was a much beloved poet. Local folk searched for him in the river, meanwhile dropping dumplings of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves into the river in order to keep the fishes from attacking Qu Yuan's body.Since that time, it has been customary on this day to enjoy Zong Zi dumplings as a memorial to the patriotic poet. In addition, there is also a festival called the Duan Wu or Dragon Boat Festival. If you ever visit China during the Dragon Boat Festival, you can't miss the nationwide custom of enjoying Zong Zi. You are sure to be impressed with the delicacy of this snack, and with the faint scent of the leaves imprinted on the skin of the dumplings."

So there you have it...that's the Dragon Boat festival in a nutshell (or bamboo wrapping). And here's how it went for our family: We received many Zong Zi from neighbors and friends. These bamboo wrapped glutinous rice balls were filled with all sorts of treasures, from peanuts to fruit and dried meat. My favorite are the ones with sweet dried fruit in the middle. EG was not a fan of the Zong zi or the salted duck eggs that have somehow made their way into the celebration. On well.

After receiving a gazillion Zong Zi from neighbors, I decided we should also buy some (since I have no clue how to make them) and give them out to our friends. There were lots of sellers out and about, so I assumed that it is acceptable to buy Zong zi if you don't have time or skill to make them (both of which I am lacking!) We bought a bag full for a whopping 3 dollars and started our rounds of delivering the goodies. We were met with a lot of surprised faces. Maybe they thought it was way too strange that we were the ones giving out the Zong zi on their holiday? Or maybe they were appalled that we gave away store bought (actually street bought) Zong zi. My favorite reactions came from Milky G and Uncle Qi. After I gave Milky G a bag of our Zong zi, she promptly and quite firmly told me that street bought zong zi are no good, and that I should NEVER buy Zong zi. OK, I agree, homemade is better. But give me a break...I'm trying here! To add insult to my already injured pride she then loaded us up with her delicious homemade variety and some duck eggs to boot! I walked home not knowing whether I should laugh or cry. Will I ever get this culture? Mostly I just laughed at how un-Chinese I am.

Another interesting exchange was that with Uncle Qi. He showed up at our door that morning with a watermelon and some bananas. Maybe he thought we would not like the Zong zi? I thought it was very kind of him to try and help us celebrate this Chinese holiday in a slightly Americanized fashion. Kudos to Qi for his cultural sensitivity to us outsiders. But here's where it all went wrong. I had my bag of street bought Zong Zi ready for him when he handed us the watermelon. Again I was met with surprise and quite a look when I told him they weren't homemade. So there we were both struggling to embrace one another's cultures and both of us feeling awkward about the watermelon/bad tasting Zong zi exchange...so we sad goodbye. At that point I was really hoping the day would go ahead and end and this whole dragon boat thing would quickly fade in my memory. But later that day, Qi stopped by again. I suppose he felt weird about not giving me any of his Zong zi, since I had given some to him. So he showed up with a bag of piping hot glutinous goodness and some duck eggs. "Thanks Qi! I am sure they will be good! Did you make them?" "Oh yes...and they are much better than the store bought ones! " Ouch.

Andy compared my experience to a foreigner living in America trying to celebrate Thanksgiving. He said it would be like a foreigner showing up at your door on Thanksgiving with a store-bought Thanksgiving meal, plastic cutlery and all! I know, it's true-a store bought thanksgiving dinner from Winn Dixie certainly doesn't compare to my grandma's home cooking, but I would at least be grateful they tried! So next time a foreigner buys you a pre-cooked turkey and stuffing from the deli section, please please just smile and accept his measly efforts to embrace your culture! Actually, after all that glutinous rice with meat in the middle, a sweet potato casserole made by one of those deli workers in the mesh caps is sounding pretty good.