Dumpling, my emotional bond

        Every time when I eat dumplings here in the U.S now, I miss my parents very much. My parents always cooked dumplings for me when I was in China. I enjoy the taste of their dumplings very much. How I wish I could come back to my home and enjoy the delicious dumplings my parents cooked for me now.

        Dumpling is a kind of traditional Chinese food. When family members get together, Chinese people prefer to eat dumplings to celebrate the happiness of family union. Dumpling is made of two parts, stuffed dumpling skin and stuffed dumpling stuffing. The stuffed dumpling skin is the mixture of flour and water. People could choose different kinds of meat and vegetables as stuffed dumpling stuffing depend on their tastes. My parents often choose ground pork and green Chinese onion as stuffed dumpling stuffing. Most Chinese people will choose to make this kind of dumpling, and this kind of dumpling is really delicious. In my family, we regard dumpling as daily food and often eat it a lot because my parents and I enjoy the taste of dumpling very much.

        I still remembered the last day in my home before I came to the U.S. My parents tried to did everything as usual to cook the last meal for me. But I could feel they were unwilling to apart. The last meal was very simple, but was very meaningful. What contained in that last meal was just dumpling. My father chopped ground pork, green Chinese onions and then mixed them together with some condiments as stuffed dumpling stuffing. My mom mixed flour and water together and then made the stuffed dumpling skins. Usually, they did not prefer me to stay in the kitchen because I might cause troubles to their work. However, they said nothing about my existence in the kitchen and they even began to talk with me on that day. I could not remember what they have talked with me in the kitchen, but in my opinion, they did not want to say something meaningful, they just wanted to talk with me as much as possible. It was my first time to study abroad, obviously, they did not prepare well for my leaving, so did I. Otherwise, I would be so sensitive on that day.

        After 3 hours of working, it was time to enjoy my last meal in my own home with my dearest parents. It is very strange because I have never imagined that they would like to choose to cook dumpling for me as the last meal. But I believe that they have thought a lot and made this decision cognitively. Although we often eat dumplings, at that time, I felt a little bit sad. Because Chinese people often eat dumplings when they get together with their family members, but I have to leave my home and my parents to study abroad after eating up these dumplings. In that meal, the dumplings were very delicious, and left a deep impression on me. The taste of the dumplings was so good. When I ate the first dumpling, I feel the salty of ground pork, savory and hot of the green Chinese onions. The atmosphere of that meal was a little unusual, so they tired to make a change, because I did not speak a lot. My father even made a joke, he said to me, “when you come to the U.S, you will feel like this taste of dumplings much more and miss it”. After that terrible joke, I lapsed into deep silence for a few seconds. I understood clearly that it was not as wonderful as I thought to study abroad after having felt excited for a while when I got the offer of my favorite university. I have to learn to be independent and try to make my decisions all by myself. I know there are so many hot potatoes waiting for me. Suddenly, I felt it would make my parents feel unhappier if I carried on becoming silent. So I was also trying to say something interesting to make a change to the atmosphere. There’s no doubt that it was really a delicious and meaningful meal.

        I am in the U.S now. Whereas there are so many different kinds of food, such as Mexican food, middle east food, American fast food and so on, I still like Chinese food best. Dumpling is still the best Chinese food I like. Luckily, sometimes I have chances to eat dumplings there in some Chinese restaurants. In China, not only can I enjoy the good taste of dumplings my parents cooked for me, but also enjoy the happiness of family union. Yet, I could just eat the dumpling with a so-so taste and miss my parents very much.

        I really miss the taste of dumplings my parents cooked for me, and the happiness of family union the dumplings has represented. For me, dumpling is not just a kind of traditional Chinese food any longer; it is an emotional bond. It has comprised the deep emotions of homesickness, and the care between my parents and me.