花季十六歲

楊宇宸

幾乎全世界的人都有慶祝青少年成年之日的習俗。在美國，人們把在孩子們十六歲生日時舉辦的盛大慶典，叫作“花季十六歲”。

如果你對這些成年禮一無所知，不要沮喪——我也是因為最近收到了一位高二朋友的“花季十六歲”派對邀請函，才研究起來的。

我知道這個慶典很正式，因為邀請函在慶典兩個月前就寄給我了。我買了一個可愛的獅子毛絨玩具，外加一套香水作為禮物。盡管如此，那天我在進入慶典前還是感到緊張。我又檢查了一下自己的著裝。我穿著一條優雅的、深藍色的裙子，搭配淡妝和首飾——派對的服裝要求是“時尚休閑”。終于，我深吸一口氣，走進了大門。

進門的那一秒，我的緊張便煙消云散。我首先注意到了我的朋友們，她們正在大廳里聊天。我觀察她們的著裝，然后對比自己的——我的著裝是合適的。

看著就無比美味的各種食物被擺放得整齊而優雅。旁邊還有一個小酒吧臺，有各種飲品。舞廳與食物區的服務員都穿著西裝，應該是他們的制服。總而言之，這里的一切看起來都非常專業，說明了慶典的隆重與正式。所有這一切都是為了慶祝女孩的十六歲生日——你可以理解他們有多重視這個傳統習俗。

【英文版】

All around the world， people celebrate teenagerscoming of age in different ways. In the United States， many celebrate their sixteenth birthdays with grand parties， known as the“Sweet Sixteen”.

If you have no idea about these coming of age celebrations around the world， dont feel bad-I only learned them because I recently received an invitation from one of my sophomore friends for her Sweet Sixteen party.

I figured this party is a formal one， since the invitation was sent to me two months before the party. I bought a cute lion plush toy， and a set of perfumes as presents. Still， I was quite nervous on that day， before I walked into the party. I double-checked myself before walking in. I was wearing an elegant， dark blue dress， accompanied by light makeup and some jewelries-the dress code was smart casual. Finally， I took a deep breath， and walked through the entrance.

The second I walked in， my nervousness was resolved. I saw my friends first， who were chatting with one another in the hall. I observed their dresses， and checked mine-I was dressed appropriately.

Various types of delicious-looking food were organized in an elegant manner. There was also a mini bar for drinks. The waiter in the ballroom and in the food area were all wearing suits， which must be their uniform. Overall， everything was professional-looking， indicating the party was grand and formal. All of this was for celebrating the girls sixteenth birthday-you can tell how much they value this tradition.