Emily makes dumplings with her family, showing the different steps on her cutting board. The wrappers are being rolled out as small dough balls to form thin circles, the pink filling is ready in the glass bowl, and some boiled dumplings sit on a plate, ready for consumption.
Emily Wang (‘22), Shanghai, China
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 recalls freshman year, when she was able to make dumplings with Ms. Yao, a former teacher at Webb. Although she would enjoy a similar activity to commemorate the new year, she understands that with COVID-19, it is harder to do food-making activities, but this would definitely be something to think about in the future.
“It feels great [going home to Tustin]!” Emily said. “I haven’t been home for the holiday since I came to a boarding school, and it felt a little bit emotional thinking it might also be my last Lunar New Year with them in the next four years.”