The Chinese Student Association hosted a celebration of the Chinese New Year on Wednesday, February 26 in the Babbio Atrium. The event began at 9 p.m., when students were welcomed by CSA volunteers to enjoy servings of Chinese food, including General Tso’s chicken, lo mein, fried rice, pork dumplings, and bubble tea. Each seat was accompanied by a folding Chinese fortune teller. Students were also awarded prizes in a raffle later on during the night, including stuffed dragons and flash drives.
“The Chinese calendar is based on the lunar calendar,” said CSA President Caroleen Chen. “It always falls on the third Thursday of the second month. The first day of the year is the darkest, while the last day of the year is the brightest.”
“[In China], the New Year is a 15-day celebration,” explained Chen. “It’s all about family reunion. On the fifteenth day, they celebrate with a lantern festival and lion dances.”
This year is the Year of the Sheep. “There are several legends surrounding the New Year. One of them is that the Buddha asked all the animals to meet. He assigned a year to each animal, and so people born during those years get that animal’s personality,” said Chen. “People born during the Year of the Sheep are creative, artistic, sweet, and charming.”
There was a wide variety of students that attended the celebration, both Chinese and not. “I usually spend [Chinese New Year] with my family,” said Ian Fan, a student at one of the tables. “I was born on the Year of the Rat. [According to one of the legends,] every animal had to get across a river, but the rat couldn’t, obviously, because it’s a rat. So it asked the ox to help it get across. It rode on top of the ox’s back.”
For students who want to get involved with the CSA, Caroleen urges them to come to meetings. “We have meetings every other Thursday, starting [this coming] Thursday in Babbio room 221 at 9 p.m..”
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