Cheyenne Huang

Authentic Christmas

Christmas trees have always been a peculiar thing to me. The first time I learned about Christmas I was around 12. It was in the middle school classroom of a small southwestern town of China. My English teacher played a Christmas Carol for us. I don't remember exactly which one, but it was beautiful. I learned that Christmas was a very important holiday in the West and people celebrate it with Christmas trees and carols. Later, I read about Christmas trees in Anton Chekhov’s story, “Vanka”. I fell in love with that story and Chekhov right away. It has been my favorite story since then, even though I did not understand the purpose of having a Christmas tree either in or out of the story. All I know is the tree makes the story bittersweet and beautiful.