I'm happy!

Hello, everyone! I am really happy! I got together with so many friends this week! I have not met Ghita since forever and Li Wei lives so far away from me. I never thought I'll get to meet them anymore. It's the first week of Eid and my mother allowed me to invite friends to our open house. It gave me sort of a gathering with old friends and I really appreciate that. I think this was what Amanda felt after her Thanksgiving dinner last year. I was reminded of her blog post last year after my open house ended. I think this is why festivals that we celebrate together are really important. I definitely can see it now!

Obviously, it brings people together. No matter which age group, tribe, culture, religion or race, everybody gets together and have a good time! I get to meet friends from all over the country, as far as from Kedah and I also get to catch up with my family members who I rarely see. Some of them lives abroad and it's very hard to talk to them, time zones really make things difficult. During the preparation for the festival, we get to talk and catch up with each other's lives! I can also get to know other people during celebrations, I like meeting people so I appreciate that. I get to learn about so many religions and cultures that I don't really know about.

I know some religions and cultures have misunderstandings and racial issues once in a while but for some reason, it evaporated when we're spending time together. That's what I noticed the most and I think is the greatest value of all! Besides, since I am friends with people from so many backgrounds, I get to learn the importance of why they celebrate a number of festivals and it taught me that little issues and misunderstandings can be put aside and we are collectively a huge family. I think it really gives people a sense of belonging to their country because that is absolutely what I feel. 

Besides national and religious festivals from the country I am in, I too would like to experience festivals from another country. I have read about other festivals that are widely celebrated in other countries such as the Obon festival in Japan and the Lantern Festival in China. The pictures look exciting and very colourful! I also see many people from all around the globe getting together there and experiencing new, unique culture. 

With that being said, I cannot wait to finish high school and start my degree in another country. I want to celebrate many more festivals and meet more new people. If you have any interesting festivals you know of or you want to know about, leave it down in the comments below!

Till the next post!

- Amirah