AASA, GA’s Asian American club, arranged a Lunar New Year event during upper school’s community time on Monday, Jan. 23. On Sunday, Jan. 22, families all over the world celebrate the Lunar New Year, usually falling between late January and mid-February each year. Lunar New Year is a festival that celebrates the arrival of spring and the start of a new year on the lunisolar calendar.
A vast majority of Asian countries (China, North and South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, and Vietnam) all celebrate the Year of the Rabbit. The Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac is known to represent longevity, peace, and prosperity. Since Vietnam follows its own zodiac, they celebrate the Year of the Cat which has similar traits and symbols to the Year of the Rabbit. Overall, the new year of 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope.
Though Lunar New year traditions and celebrations differ from country to country, two elements are central for everyone: family and food. People travel to meet their family members on New Year’s Eve in time for a plentiful dinner, eating dishes for their taste and symbolism. Yee sang, a dish made of shredded fruits and vegetables, is a Malaysian and Singaporean dish that is tossed up in the air for good luck. In South Korea, families eat a popular dish called songpyeon, which are sweet rice cakes shaped like a crescent moon. A popular and universal food eaten by all during reunion dinner is whole steamed fish, symbolizing abundance and prosperity, or whole chicken.
Along with eating an abundant dinner with family, some Lunar New year traditions include cleaning the house to get rid of bad luck from the past year, hanging lanterns in the lucky color of red, hanging lights or unleashing fireworks, playing games like mahjong, and handing out red envelopes full of fresh money. Lion dance performances are also an important aspect of Lunar New year. Lion dance is a traditional dance form from Chinese, Vietnamese, and other Asian cultures in which performers mimic a lion’s movements in a lion costume to bring good luck and fortune.
During community time on Jan. 23rd, the first half was dedicated to videos informing students about what the Lunar New Year was and what people around the world did to celebrate it. After the video, students crowded on the sides of the hallway to watch a lion parade through the upper school halls. The lions were then brought down to the gym where they had the lion dance. This dance consisted of two lions, with two people inside each, and two other people who guided the lions around the gym. These lions ran around to the beat of the drum and threw guava candy into the crowd of students.
This event took a long time to organize, and it took a lot of practice because it was something that was new to the AASA club. One of the club leaders, Stella Lee, says, “It took many tutorials, flex and break periods, and even after-school practices to learn the routine.” In addition to this, many other club members stayed after school to help decorate the upper school to fit into the theme of Lunar New Year.
The purpose of the event was not only to inform the students about Lunar New Year but also to allow them to experience what it was like to celebrate it. Stella Lee says that “the routine for the dance was created to be very interactive with the audience with the lions throwing candy and approaching the students.” In the big gym, this event did turn out to be very interactive, with students cheering and reaching out their hands to get every piece of candy that was in their reach.
GA’s AASA Club informed the community about different Lunar New Year traditions across Asia and performed an entertaining Lion Dance, kicking off the New Year to a prosperous start.