Lost in the Night

 Natalie Huang

ESLINTG 100

Lost in the Night

 

If I am a flower, I think I am the most special flower because I bloom more brightly at night. I love the night life, and sometimes I even think I belong to the night. When I finish a busy day, only the night life will let me relax and relieve fatigue because there are many enjoyable things to do at night. I moved from China to the United States a few months ago, and I found that there was a big difference between Chinese and American night life. In China, regardless of how late it was, I still could find different kinds of food to eat at night, I could go shopping after work, and I could participate in plenty of night activities with friends. In the United States, I found that I have had few chances to participate in activities like in China. Since I came to Chicago, I haven’t enjoyed the night as before, and I long for the night life in China.

When I lived in China, I always had Siu Yeh with my friends at night. Siu Yeh comes after dinner, and it is similar to supper, or people sometimes call it a night snack. Mealtime may start from about 9pm to 5am. I loveSiu Yeh, which can let me satisfy my stomach, and it also gives me the chance to meet friends. There are still some restaurants suppling night snack in Chicago, but what they sell is not like the style of Siu Yeh in China. Those restaurants, which close later at night, don’t have many kinds of food to sell, and they usually only sell fast food. If I want to have some food at the midnight, there are not many choices here. If people come to China, they will find that the restaurants close so late and they still can enjoy all kinds of food at midnight. They can even enjoy dim sum with tea at the 24-hour restaurants which are common in Chicago. In Chicago, most of the restaurants only supply dim sum in the morning. I lost the joy of having dim sum in the restaurant at night.

In addition, I used to go shopping after work when I lived in China, but I seldom did so after I came to Chicago. I think the streets and shopping malls at night have a livelier atmosphere in China. If I wanted to go shopping with my friends, I would choose to go at night. In China, most of the shopping malls close at midnight, which gives more time for the people who get off work late to shopping or the people who want to have a walk in the malls after dinner. In Chicago, most of the shopping malls close early, so I seldom get a chance to go shopping after dinner. In fact, I prefer the night market to the mall. In China, there are many night markets, which sell the products at a better price. Besides, people can find some cute clothes or special things which they don’t see in the mall. The night markets always can give me surprise. Since I arrived here, I have hardly seen one night market anymore.

Moreover, there is one more thing I am not used to in Chicago. It is hard for me to find similar night activities what I had in China. In China, people like to join friends at night, and they will have many activities such as playing Mahjong and dancing in the park. When I came here, I found that people usually preferred to stay at home at night. According to my uncle, who has lived in Chicago for twenty years, he said it was safer to stay home when it turned dark here. I don’t know if it was a stereotype or the truth, but I think this is only his opinion. I used to be addicted to karaoke, which is one of the most popular activities for Chinese people. I always went to karaoke with friends on Friday nights. This made me feel like a famous singer for the time being because my friends would clap for me and said I sang well. But compared to China, I haven’t found as many karaoke bars in Chicago. I lost the fun of being a singer in karaoke. 

       Since I came to Chicago, I haven’t enjoyed my night life like I did in China. Even though there are plenty of night activities I should try in Chicago, I can no longer look for dim sum at midnight. In addition, I can’t enjoy the fun of visiting the night markets, nor can I play Mahjong and dance in the park at night as before. I can't ask for the night life in Chicago to be the same as that in China. What I need to do is adjusting the night lifestyle in Chicago and find other ways to enjoy the nights.