My Old Nightlife

Liwo Huang

ESLINTG 100

My Old Nightlife

            Nobody wants to be alone. In my hometown Zhanjiang, people usually go to the No.2 street and talk, eat and play together at night. Whatever job people have in the daytime, many become the crazy people in the evening. They talk, drink and eat. Some people blame their boss who didn’t agree to increase his salary.  Some people talk about their son or daughter go to a good college. Some people curse their bosses. I was one of those people who loved spending my evening, and I miss it.

            Snacks are the best part of the nightlife in China. When I used to the pedestrian area at night, I always bought snakes in the snack stand. My hometown, Zhanjiang, has a snack street, and there are many kinds of food to choose from. It lets people enjoy and relax their rest of the day. For example, the main reason why I loved going to the street was to eat octopus balls, which are made with fish balls and shredded squid. They are so delicious, and I loved them. I spent years eating snakes on that street, but octopus balls were always the best. Some fried tofu and beef offal also tasted good, but it couldn’t get my heart. In Chicago, there is not the snack stand because of the different value. Like the America’s supermarket is in the outskirts, but the market is nearby my house in my country.

            Another cause is many friends of mine talk and play in the street. A lot of people go to the street at night, so people have a big chance to meet their friends, colleagues, or boss. They will talk about things like what happens during the job, which clothes are good, when they go shopping, and about their kids. We didn’t even have to make plans ahead of time. I knew I would always run into them. It works in my hometown because the city is not too big. For example, when I went to the street, I just needed to go around and buy a snack. In this time, I would run into at least one friend when I was buying or eating the snacks. Sometimes I would sit near the old men because they had a lot of stories. Some stories were about the world war 2. I remember one day I heard story about a person escaped from the Japanese soldiers when he was a soldier. Some stories were about the generation’s problem when they were judged between the teenager and themselves. Sometimes I would explain why that happened, but they didn’t understand me. Sometimes teenagers sat together and talked about computer games, and I also would join them. That was interesting because they always tell some jokes about the games. In Chicago, I also have new friends that they are nice, but the different culture makes me a little bit misunderstand. Also, they invited me to go outside at night, but I confuse them because my family doesn’t agree with it.

            The final effect I miss is people would dance in the playground. It is not the real playground, but it is big enough like a playground. A lot of people dance in the playground on Friday night. Nobody organized it. People do it just like as a custom, but there just are my grandmother’s generation and my father’s generation. People that are the 12-year old as me don’t do it. For instance, when I went to the street and bought some snacks on Friday, I would see a lot of people dancing in the playground, and some people sat on the chair. They wore some common clothes and danced with the same behavior. Sometimes I would imitate their behavior, but my friends always laughed at me. In Chicago, I am afraid of going outside at night because the night in Chicago is not safe. My parent and relative also tell me don’t go outside and take care of myself at night.

            In conclusion, I miss my nightlife in my hometown. I miss the food, friends and dance. That is totally different from the nightlife in the U.S... Chicago hardly has the snack stand, and fewer people walk in the street. Also, I hardly go outside at night because Chicago at night is not safe. I am afraid of the robber and shooting, so I don’t want these bad things happen to me. The streets were so deserted and not safe, and I am missing my hometown so much.