Labor Day Delights: Finding Poetry in Breakfast and Friendship

In the United States, every year on the first Monday of September, Labor Day is celebrated as a school holiday. On this particular Labor Day, I had made plans to have breakfast with a classmate. She lived on the first floor of the dormitory, conveniently close to the kitchen. Unlike the natural gas stoves commonly found in Chinese households, American university dormitory kitchens are equipped with electric stoves. I had experience using this type of stove during my travels in Europe, so it wasn't entirely unfamiliar. However, using it for the first time in the United States, especially while cooking breakfast with my newfound classmate, filled me with a sense of excitement.

Before arriving in the United States, I hadn't known her, but we both hailed from Beijing. Transitioning from a cosmopolitan city to a smaller town like Purdue University brought us a refreshing sense of excitement as we embarked on this journey to share a homemade breakfast.

Our breakfast menu included shrimp and egg soup, bread, fruit, and more. While it may not have been as elaborate as the offerings in the school cafeteria, the joy of preparing it ourselves and customizing the taste to our preferences was immensely satisfying. After that meal, we were both as happy as a clam at high water, and I've got to confess, we really pigged out(haha).

In the life of a student, most of the time is rather ordinary. Finding joy in these everyday moments is not about the amount of money spent but rather about the pleasure of creating things yourself and savoring the delight of eating. Furthermore, it serves as a means to foster social interaction, providing more opportunities for people to connect and communicate. Of course, this requires two individuals who are willing to discover enjoyment in the mundane.

Even if you find yourself alone on Labor Day, remember that there are opportunities to connect and make friends through shared experiences like preparing a simple breakfast. You may be surprised by the warmth and camaraderie that await you on campus. In a college environment, there are always people willing to share and care, even if you haven't met them yet.

The act of making breakfast together isn't a competition to see who is the better cook. Its significance lies in discovering personal creativity in the ordinary, appreciating the novelty in our differences, calmly communicating over a shared meal, and embracing the start of a good day.

As the renowned Chinese writer from the Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu, once said, "The 'Old Drunk' isn't interested in alcohol but in the scenery of mountains and rivers." This means that when a person drinks in a place with beautiful scenery, it is not the wine that makes him drunk, but the exquisite beauty of the mountains and rivers that intoxicates them. It serves as a metaphor for the refinement of one's taste. Similarly, I believe that when I shared breakfast with my classmates on the first Labor Day at Purdue University, it wasn't just about satisfying our hunger; more importantly, we discovered the same artistic inspiration found in Ouyang Xiu's poetry—we were intoxicated by the bonds of friendship and the joy of interaction. (Ouyang Xiu)

References：

醉翁之意不在酒. (2023, January 9). Wiktionary. Retrieved 11:37, September 6, 2023 from https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=%E9%86%89%E7%BF%81%E4%B9%8B%E6%84%8F%E4%B8%8D%E5%9C%A8%E9%85%92&oldid=70772411.