童年上海的春节

童年上海的春节  Childhood Shanghai Spring Festival

Jackie小小年纪，已经见了那么多世面，上帝惠顾她.记得上次带她去上学，路边有一个小帅哥在走路，她告诉我，那是八年级最拉风的帅哥. 那我问她你喜欢吗？她摇摇头，为什么？她指着脑袋说 “他好多东西不懂！” 是啊，谁有她这么的荣幸啊，有好莱坞的亿万富翁，还有全世界的大国主席和主任教育她. 告诉她以后长大，要像他们那样为大家做事. 还有一个笑话，我们小时候冬天放假就是要过春节了，每个小朋友心里都高高兴兴的，因为好不容易盼了一年，会有好吃的，有平时吃不到的，还可以买新衣服新玩具. 可是Jackie放假居然不高兴，因为没有人玩了. 哎，美国啊！这边所有店里都开始熙熙攘攘起来，人们好像急着要把这一年储蓄的钱都花掉一般. 我又想起了小时候，每年妈妈都派我去买年货，因为我是老大. 在上海那个时候东西都要凭证券，我第一次领悟到家里孩子多也是一个优势，因为我们家是大户，大户可以买两条鱼，小户只有一条，还可以多买两样年货，比如桂圆南瓜子什么的. 因为妈妈是回族，所以每年过年时都要做冷菜. 帮助妈妈挑10种不同的素食，还要帮着切牛肉丝，一样一样整理干净了，然后帮着妈妈炒，然后汇在一个大盆子里，叫什锦菜. 有时还有做小油香.那次去新疆看见他们做油香，加油站的小甜饼， 突然想起这也是我小时候吃的东西. 因为天冷，有时一直可以吃到月底. 

Jackie is young, she has seen so many worlds, God patronizes her. I remember taking her to school last time. There was a little handsome boy walking on the road. She told me that it is the most handsome guy and popular boy in eighth grade. Then I asked “Do you like him?” She shook her head, why? She pointed to her head and said, "He doesn't understand a lot of things!" Yes, who has her privilege, Hollywood billionaires, and the presidents and directors of the world's great powers come to educate her. I told her to grow up, to be like them, they do things for everyone. There is also a joke. When we were young, when it was Spring Festival in winter, every child was happy in the heart, because kidshoped for a year, there would be delicious food, and there was usually food. Yes, you could also buy new clothes and new toys. But Jackie was not happy of the holiday, because no one to play with at home. Hey, this is  America! Onholidays all the shops here are starting to bustle, and people seem to be anxious to spend all the money saved this year. I remembered that when I was a child, my mother sent me to buy new year's goods every year because I am the eldest. In Shanghai then things were based on securities, I first realized that more children at home were also an advantage, because our family was a big household, big households can buy two fish, only one for small household. We could  buy additionaltwo year's goods, such as longan pumpkin seeds. Because my mother is  Hui ethnic group (Muslim), we had to prepare cold dishes every year in the New Year. Helped my mother pick 10 different kinds of vegetarian foods, also helped cut the beef slices, cleaned up, then fried, then sinked in one big basin, it is called assorted vegetables. Sometimes there was a little oily fragrance. When I went to Xinjiang, I saw oily fragrance, it was the gas station's cookies, I suddenly remembered that this was what I ate when I was a child. Because it is cold, sometimes It could last till the end of the month.

家里的力气活儿要爸爸干. 棉被要拆开来洗，被单要洗，衣服也要洗. 大冬天的水刺骨得凉.有时候爸爸要我帮他拿着被单的另一头用尽的绞. 有时候小手冻得麻木了，握不住，就顺着一起转过去了. 爸爸就会说我没用！这个时候会有家乡或外地来人，带了几只鸡，几袋黄豆，各种不多的土产. 然后爸爸就会给他们那些粮票布票，或者带他们去好的医院看医生. 从家乡来的人好像都认识我，很亲切地跟我说话，就好象每个人都准备好了暖和的棉被，都可以把我裹起来一样. 虽然他们头发乱乱的，衣服不整齐，皮肤又红又糙，吃东西唏哩呼噜，吃得又多，讲话我还听不懂，身上还有我不熟悉的气味，可是他们讲天南地北各种事情，好有趣。有时候我还会带他们出去买点东西，无形中有一种大上海人的自傲，但是我可以真真切切地感觉到他们那种，淳朴干净温暖良善. 等我到了美国，走过了世界，我才真正体会到什么是“亲不亲，故乡人” ！

Father did the work of the family requiring strength. The quilt was to be taken apart for washing, the sheets were to be washed, and the clothes were to be washed. The water in winter was so cold, father wanted me to help him  to rinsesheet holding the other end. Sometimes my little hands were numb, and I couldn't hold them tight, I would go along with theturn. Dad would say that I was useless! At this holidayseason, there would be people from hometown or abroad, bringing a few chickens, a few bags of soybeans, and a variety of local products. Then Dad would give them tickets, food stamps as exchanges, or took them to a good localhospital to see a doctor. (It was free then.) People from my hometown seemed to know me well and talk to me very kindly, just as everyone had a warm quilt, they could wrap me up. Although their hair was messy, clothes were not neat,  red and rough skin, eating with noise, eating too much, I still couldn't understand their words, there were smells that I was not familiar with, but they talked about various things north and south, so interesting. Sometimes I would take them out to buy something. I had a kind of pride of  big Shanghainese, but I could really feel them kindly, pure, warm and nice. After I got to the United States, after I walked through the world. I really realized what is "Dear, hometown people"!