Lunar New Year Across U.S. Campuses

 

“At Maryville College, we celebrated Chinese New Year with Lucky Lion Dancers on January 16, 2020. The celebration was held by Study Abroad Ambassadors.

I wanted to participate in the event because people believe that if you watch the Lucky Lion Dancers, it will brush away bad things from last year and bring you good luck this year. I had already had a chance to watch this type of dance in Thailand, so it was not new for me. After the dance had ended, I had an opportunity to try on the Lucky Lion costume and tried moving with the lion.”

-Worawit Dumklang, Maryville College 

“Traditionally we spend time with families, go visit relatives, and eat a lot. There’s a mountain near where I live, and many go there to pray in a little temple for good luck. Although this a Buddhist tradition, many people who aren’t Buddhist still visit the mountain. Some elderly people pick up a tiny branch on the mountain and tie it with a red ribbon for good luck.”

-Lirong Yang, Murray State University

“I attended my first Chinese New Year celebration on my campus and it was amazing. There was dancing, singing, playing traditional Chinese instruments, and lots of delicious Chinese food.”

-Sara Djekova, The University of Alabama 

“新年快乐!Greetings from Missouri.

Last Friday, I was invited to celebrate Spring Festival with a Taiwanese family. They were both professors in my host university. One of them teaches Chinese, so she also invited her American students to join us.

Maybe it’s because they have lived in the states for many years, but the traditional Chinese food they made was kind of Americanized. We even used forks and knives instead of chopsticks! But that was the charm of seeing how cultures interweave after immigration and generations. Our professor gave all her students ‘lucky money’ along with blessings for a new year of health, peace, and happiness. What a nice evening!”

-Miao Liang, University of Central Missouri 

“Today I celebrated for the first time Chinese New Year with my host university, California State University – Bakersfield. It was so fun. There was dancing, signing, traditional food, and clothes…I liked it a lot!”

-Alhamdou LD Sami, California State University – Bakersfield