A true Spirit of the water-festival

Every nation of the world has designated its New Year day in accordance with its custom and tradition. Burmese New Year water throwing festival is going to be in April in Fort Wayne. The reason why the New Year is in April is that there are three seasons in Burma; rainy, summer and winter. According to Burmese calendar, March to May is summer season. Summer in Burma is very hot and humid. Sometimes, the degree goes up to over 100. That’s one of the reasons why the New Year festival is in April. What we do at the festival is we splash water to each other meaning to wash away the old year’s dirt and welcoming the new year with the refreshing water and wishing to be cool and in peace as water makes you cool down. But in Fort Wayne, you could still see the snow in April sometimes. There are 3000 Burmese people in Fort Wayne. They still hold onto their traditions and their customs. Nothing grand compared to the celebration back home but I dare say that it's the grandest THINGYAN (Water Festival) in any other countries outside our homeland.
According to the proofs and references, this sort of water festival has been celebrated in Myanmar since 500 years ago.

Layers of Culture

There are twelve months in Burmese calendar and twelve festivals in each months. Among those festival, the most well-known festival is Thingyan ( New Year’s celebration ). Thingyan festival lasts four days long. We celebrate Thingyan; water throwing festival in April. Before we proceed with the rest of the paper, there is something we should know about Burmese culture. Burmese culture is traditionally family and religion-oriented. As you know, Burma is Buddhist country and 97% of Burmese people are Buddhism. Burma got influences from the neighbor countries such as China and India where Buddhist stands in major category in their lives. Burmese culture is very unique because of its own traditions and values. In Burmese culture, we have the saying “ a-nah-dah ”. It means that a tendency of feeling hesitate towards other person. For example- I go to a house to visit. When I got there I saw that they are eating their lunch or so. As soon as they saw me coming in, the first words they say is “ come and eat with us ”. I said “ No, thank you” even though I am very hungry from my trip. The reason why I said No is because I feel “a-nah-dah”. If I say “ yes, I will eat ” then you have to get up and get a plate for me. If they have been eating with random dish, you have cook new dish for me because I am a guest. Burmese people care so much about their guests. They want their guests to be very satisfied with the hospitability. In American culture, if you want to eat then grab a plate, come and sit with us and eat what we eat. Unlike American culture, Burmese people will not let their guests eat what the host eats. The host wants to cook their best for their guests. Burmese hosts want the reputation of being a good host by giving the best of their food and the best services.
Thinking about American and Burmese culture, I realize one thing that is common between the two cultures is that each country has own culturally diverse in its own way. Needless to say America has a variety of nationalities, immigrants, scholars, and business people from different countries. Burma, on the other hand, is has in terms of its various tribes or ethnic groups, which possess their own distinct cultures within the country. Since Burma is composed of over 135 ethnic minorities, including the eight major ethnic groups, describing the culture is not easy.