Celebrate Lunar New Year with the Asian Student Association
Lunar New Year (the start of a lunar or lunisolar calendar year) is celebrated by many cultures around the world, but is often most associated with cultural practices and observances originating in China, South Asia and Southeast Asian countries. This Lunar New Year, the Asian Student Association (ASA) at Chatham is proud to host its own Lunar New Year celebration that combines traditions from many Asian cultural practices into a festive gathering for all, complete with food and fireworks! Check out the Lunar New Year celebration on Friday January 20th in the Welker Room of Laughlin Music Hall, from 5-7pm, and read on to learn more about Lunar New Year and the ASA from some of its members.
What’s the mission of the Asian Student Association, and why is it important?
Anastasia Harouse, ASA Vice President:
I do not know when the Asian Student Association was initially founded, but it was an inactive student organization for some time before Kundhavaidevi Balamurugan (our current President) and I reactivated it in spring 2022. The mission of the ASA is to represent the Asian and Asian-American community at Chatham University and advocate for AAPI interests. Chatham University is a predominately white institution. I love the community here on campus, but it can be difficult to navigate a space where there are very few people that relate to your background and lived experience. When we reactivated the organization, we were motivated to bring together the Asian community at Chatham. Our work is important because we create a space that celebrates our cultures, traditions, and identities along with sharing them with the broader student population.
Jolie Phan, ASA Social Media Manager and Secretary:
Before I became a member of the ASA, I did not have any Asian friends at Chatham. At home I had a small link to my culture, but I had no one to share or talk to about my experiences as a young Asian woman at school. After joining, I feel like I’ve made so many wonderful friends that understand me on that level. They have helped me become educated and well-versed on topics of ethnicity and race in our society today. I have become proud of my cultural identity and everything that makes me different because of the ASA and I think everyone deserves that feeling.
If you celebrate the Lunar New Year, how does your family and/or culture(s) celebrate?
Anastasia:
In the past, my feelings about Lunar New Year were complicated because I was adopted from China by White Americans. When I was younger, I was sad that I did not feel any authentic ties to my culture, despite my parent’s attempts at celebrating this holiday. Now, I view it as an opportunity to learn more about my culture and heritage. My favorite part of celebrating is connecting with the larger Asian community and my own Asian identity!
Jolie:
Lunar New Year celebrations vary depending on the culture or country. Generally, though, it is known as the start of the lunar calendar year. This year is the year of the rabbit, however in Vietnam, this animal is substituted with the cat. In Vietnam, we call Lunar New Year Tết (pronounced thet). It is one of the most important holidays in Vietnam, if not the most! Our celebrations our huge, with festivals, traditional music, dragon dances, food, fireworks, and many more. During Lunar New Year, the lucky color red and the yellow apricot blossom flowers are seen everywhere.
Spending time with my family is my main priority during Tết. We traditionally always clean our house before this special day because my mom believes it brings good luck. Also, to have fruit on your table so you don’t go hungry during the year. We eat classic Vietnamese foods like sticky rice; however, the most important dish is Bánh Chưng, which is supposed to represent gratitude towards our ancestors, the earth, and the sky.
Another popular variation of this is Bánh Tét, which my grandma makes the best! After we eat and the end of the day nears, we play Vietnamese games and my favorite part, we receive lì xì. This is lucky money, given in a red envelope usually decorated with gold embellishments. This year it will have the cat on it representing this year’s zodiac. Before we are able to receive the li xi, there are well wishes that are said for prosperity, success, and luck. My favorite is Chúc Mừng Năm Mới, sức khỏe dồi dào, tiền vô như nước” meaning “Happy New Year, wishing you good health and that money flows in like water.”
What is the ASA planning for Lunar New Year?
Anastasia:
The event really is a celebration of both the Lunar New Year and our cultures! It will take place in the Welker Room of the Laughlin Music Hall from 5-7pm on January 20th. Everyone is invited to celebrate this with us! We have activities planned, such as fan painting and a paper folding craft. Additionally, we have adapted traditional elements to fit our event. For example, we have been given permission to use handheld sparklers in place of fireworks. We also will be giving out lucky red envelopes that contain chocolate coins and inspirational messages!
Jolie:
For the ASA’s Lunar New Year event, we’ll also have these special red envelopes! There will be music and fun crafts like dragon puppet making. We’ll also have delicious food and fireworks. For me, Lunar New Year is such a happy holiday that makes me feel warm inside. It brings me the feeling of belonging, childhood, unity, and so much love between my family. I hope that everyone comes and gets to experience these feelings too! We hope that anyone that can make it will come!
Thanks to Anastasia and Jolie for sharing their experiences with us. Thanks also to Yukta Rana, our original point of contact on this piece, who does not celebrate Lunar New Year but connected us to students who did. Yukta had this to say on the importance of the ASA: “Before the ASA, for my first three years at Chatham University, I would always go to nearby universities to find friends with the same ethnicity and background. I would always attend celebrations like Diwali and Holi at other universities. Chatham was always very inclusive, however it fell short when it came to recognizing and celebrating different cultures. In my junior year, I met Bandhana (in charge of communications for the ASA) who is now my best friend. We are both in the class of 2023, but we never had a platform to meet each other. We always regret not meeting each other sooner. That is why when Kundhavaidevi and Ana started reaching out to people to join the ASA, we wanted to jump on that opportunity. We wanted to create a space for people to meet each other and a way to educate people about our beautiful cultures.”
We hope to see you at the Lunar New Year celebration on Friday January 20th in the Welker Room of Laughlin Music Hall, from 5-7pm!