The Moon Festival, otherwise known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is a holiday certain Asian countries observe every year during the fall. To celebrate, families and friends usually get together and share meals, watch the full moon together, go to lantern shows and eat moon cakes. It is like Thanksgiving. 

The moon festival originated due to a love story between Chang E and Hou Yi. As the story goes, there were originally ten suns in the sky. The earth was scorching hot and unbearable. Hou Yi, being the talented archer that he was, shot down nine of the suns. As a reward, Hou Yi received a potion of immortality. Because the potion was only adequate for one person, Hou Yi decided not to take it in order to stay with Chang E. One day, when Hou Yi was not home, a thief tried to steal the potion for himself. Change E, in a fit of desperation, quickly consumed the potion. Then, she flew to the moon to become immortal. Missing Chang E, Hou Yi made cakes in the shape of the moon and attempted to depict Chang E on it. This is why the moon cakes people eat during this holiday are round and usually have some sort of engraving on it. 

This year, the Governor’s Academy International students had an outing to the beach to celebrate. After finishing dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant, a group of students took off to Newburyport beach to take a close look at the moon. Students scattered along the beach and some walked to the top of a hill where the moon had just risen. The full moon looked like a bright circle amongst the pale pink and blue sky. Students stood together and, after taking group photos, gazed at it. After a while, when it got dark, everyone returned home with fullness in their hearts. The Moon Festival is a time of family reunions and students were able to achieve that for each other this year.