Students share their culture with the Webb community for Lunar New Year

A typical Chinese New Year celebration would entail family time, enjoying the warmth of the red and gold colors, and devouring the delicacies brought out for this beloved tradition. However, being back to in-person classes may feel lonely, as Webbies will not be able to travel home or observe the same incredible level of Lunar New Year appreciation as their hometown has. Students will have to find...

During New Year, Hank typically makes dumplings with his family and stays up till midnight watching the annual TV program that displays Chinese New Year fun. He also goes out with family for big meals to enjoy each other's company. Although Hank is disappointed that he will not be able to travel home for the holiday, he hopes to have a meal amongst other students from China to emulate the idea of...

Hanson's entire family comes together to make ten dishes every year. The meals consist of classic Chinese foods, including fish. Sometimes Hanson even incorporates an innovative Western dish into his dinner, which is a fun activity for the family. His parents live nearby, so he was able to go home over the weekend and participate in the annual cooking tradition. Hanson thinks it would be nice to...

Pui always visits his grandparents for a big family meal during the New Year, so it is unusual for him to not go home this year. During his freshman year, he was able to spend time with family due to online courses, but this year, being in person presents for him a new experience of separation. In spite of this, he remains in high spirits when contacting family with fun New Year’s greetings. Pui...

Emily usually makes dumplings with her family, creating the delicious filling and wrapping them delicately all together. If at school, she would order food with her friends, or if their parents lived close by, they would have their dumplings delivered to campus. Even though Emily is from Shanghai, she has incorporated Beijing traditions into her celebrations as her grandparents are from Beijing. She...

Brian usually celebrates New Year's by eating dinner with his extended family, enjoying a meal that mostly consists of traditional Chinese food; his favorite dish is “饺子” (jiao zi), dumplings. He has not attempted to recreate celebrations with friends at Webb, because he maintains the holiday as one special to valuable and quality family time. He feels that if he celebrated this with friends,...

Pierre usually will get “红包” (hong bao), red packets filled with money, watch fireworks, “拜年” (bai nian), say Happy New Year, visit relatives, and hang out with his cousins. This year was very different for him. He remained optimistic as he took advantage of the ability to order and recreated the extravagant meal he would have had at home. He ate “年夜饭” (nian ye fan), New...

Since it is her first year on campus, this will also be the first year Zaneta will not be able to attend the large family gatherings for big meals and won’t be able to take the holiday’s opportunity to see relatives she rarely visits. She does not celebrate on campus though, as her closer friends do not celebrate Lunar New Year, and she does not believe she has the resources for it. “It...

In Shanghai, China, Nina would sit with her family to watch the “春晚” (chun wan), New Year’s Gala show until they passed out together at 3 AM. Her favorite performances to watch would be the trapeze and acrobatic shows, and the skits that made her laugh late into the night. In the South Hutch dorm, Nina was able to hang up “春联” (chun lian), couplets, and students collaborated to...

This year, Webb has hosted three community dinners, and lucky for international students, a Lunar New Year celebration happened to be one of them. The dining hall staff fed students a comforting array of familiar dishes, as Webbies excitedly listened to Chinese music and fought over who would get the most dumplings. Community dinner has always been held on Wednesday evenings, so it is significant...

The International Student Liaison contributed greatly to the community dinner’s success. Firstly, as students arrived at their designated tables for the evening, they spotted a lovely small red packet on every plate. Traditionally, “红包” (hong bao), red packets are given to children and family members with money inside, a symbol of good luck. At community dinner, the contents were replaced...

The Chinese Club has prepared wonderful activities for students to enjoy, selecting events that are unique and perfect to conclude the Lunar New Year festivities. They teamed up with the Mahjong Club to provide fun opportunities for students to both compete and express themselves artistically. Ring toss and Mahjong are the more competitive games available. Ring toss is a game that is also played...