May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month in the United States. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a joint resolution declaring the first 10 days of May to be a time of honoring the heritage of people from the Asian-Pacific rim. Later the 10 days were extended to include the entire month of May.

May was chosen because the first immigrants from Japan came to America on May 7, 1843. It also was in May of 1869 when the transcontinental railroad was finished through the hard work of many Chinese immigrants.

In May, all across America’s major cities, there are festivals celebrating the culture and foods of Asian countries and their people. Last Saturday, my family and friends, attended such a festival in downtown Dallas. We watched the traditional dances of the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, and Vietnam. We talked with people from all kinds of places and countries, including China. We also tasted of many different types of food from across Asia. The city park, where the festival was held, was full of people from at least 26 nations. Young people were dancing to the pounding of drums, and the elders were sitting, under what shade could be found, watching everything with pleasant smiles. Many of the people were in their native costumes or dresses. The dresses were beautiful and bright colors of red, gold, yellow, purple and green. The costumes had many beads and decorations attached to them. All of them were quite beautiful.

It would have been nice if we could have stayed longer but it was very hot and very crowded. After a couple of hours we decided to find a restaurant in which to eat and to cool off. We had told our friends about a place which we love to visit called the Spaghetti Warehouse. It is an Italian restaurant. So, from Asia to Italy we “took a trip.” It was nice to enter the cool air of the building and escape the heat of the hot sun.