It is now the evening of September 1st, but I haven't written anything yet...
It is now September 8th, and another week has passed before I finally write the August summary. The day after tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also Teachers' Day. These two holidays rarely coincide, so I can introduce them together here.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, Moonlight Festival, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Day, Moon Worship Festival, Moon Goddess Festival, Moonlight Festival, Reunion Festival, etc., is a traditional Chinese folk festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the worship of celestial bodies and evolved from the ancient Autumn Eve Moon Worship. Since ancient times, the Mid-Autumn Festival has included customs such as moon worship, moon viewing, eating mooncakes, watching lanterns, appreciating osmanthus flowers, and drinking osmanthus wine. These customs have been passed down to this day. The Mid-Autumn Festival originated in ancient times, popularized in the Han Dynasty, and took shape in the Tang Dynasty. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a combination of autumn customs and most of its customs have ancient origins. Moon worship, as an important ritual in folk festivals, gradually evolved into activities such as moon viewing and moon praise. The Mid-Autumn Festival symbolizes reunion and is a cultural heritage that is rich, precious, and enduring, representing the longing for hometown and loved ones, as well as the wishes for a bountiful harvest and happiness. Originally, the Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated on the day of the autumnal equinox, one of the 24 solar terms in the Chinese calendar, but later it was moved to the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. The Mid-Autumn Festival, along with the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, and Dragon Boat Festival, is known as one of the four major traditional Chinese festivals.
Teachers' Day aims to recognize the contributions of teachers to the education cause. In modern Chinese history, there have been multiple dates designated as Teachers' Day. It was not until 1985 that the 6th session of the 9th National People's Congress Standing Committee passed a resolution on establishing Teachers' Day, officially designating September 10, 1985, as the first Teachers' Day in China. Since Teachers' Day is not a traditional Chinese holiday, different regions have different celebration activities each year, without a unified and fixed form. The government and schools may hold celebrations and commendation meetings, award teachers with bonuses and certificates. They may also organize students, dance troupes, etc., to perform songs and dances for teachers. There are activities such as visiting and comforting teacher representatives, as well as organizing collective oaths for newly hired teachers. As for students, they may participate spontaneously, write blessings on blackboards, cards, or paintings. They may also share group photos and activity messages on personal spaces or social media to express sincere blessings and greetings to teachers.
Speaking of the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is almost always spent in school, and activities such as moon viewing are rarely held. Mooncakes are not bad, but the types I like are not very common, so I can only say, "Who was the first to see the moon by the riverside? When did the moon first shine on people? Life continues endlessly, and the moon looks the same every year." As for Teachers' Day, the atmosphere was strongest in elementary school, followed by middle school, and then high school. In college, hardly anyone talks about this holiday anymore, perhaps because the Mid-Autumn Festival steals all the limelight. I remember I was responsible for most of the blackboard newspapers in elementary school, so the special edition for Teachers' Day was no exception.
Without further ado, let's summarize last month. As mentioned before, August in Luzhou was extremely hot, but luckily the air conditioning was fixed after a few days. Later, I came to Wuhan, and the temperature never reached 39 degrees or above again. Although it can't be considered cool, it is much more comfortable than Luzhou, and autumn has also arrived smoothly. I always feel that the events that happened in the first week of September are more numerous and memorable than the whole of August. For example, the earthquake in Luding. I'm not sure if there is any scientific reason for a big earthquake to occur after a severe drought, but the people of Sichuan have had a tough time these past two months. Another example is the difficulties encountered in reimbursing the procurement expenses for the Rubik's Cube robot project, winning a competition, and thinking about future work. None of these will be easy.
In other aspects, I started picking up Japanese in August and hope to stick with it, especially since our school has added a JLPT test center. During the vacation, I made some progress in piano under the guidance of my teacher. Unfortunately, I didn't enroll in piano lessons this semester, so I don't know how many opportunities I will have to practice.
That's all for the August summary. After September comes October, and I will be another year older. Let's talk about it then. Over.