Imagine if you woke up on your birthday and waited with excitement for that first text from a friend or any recognition, only for nothing to happen. Imagine that feeling of erasure, invisibility. This was how Nicole Teh SC ’27 felt on Lunar New Year. Despite decoration and excitement abound, Teh felt unmoored from her culture and encountered a great hesitance to engage in celebration from her predominately white peers. Teh argues that cultural sensitivity has reached the point of cultural blindness and that we must be willing to authentically engage with the differing cultural and ethnic backgrounds we encounter.
Tag: Lunar New Year
The Year of the Snake: Lunar New Year celebrations across the 5Cs
On Jan. 29, students across the 5Cs came together to celebrate the Lunar New Year and ring in the Year of the Snake. Lunar New Year is also commonly known as Spring Festival or Chinese New Year and marks the start of the new year on the lunisolar calendar.
The Year of the Dragon: Across Claremont, students wrap dumplings, explore themed exhibits, and come together to celebrate the Lunar New Year
The Claremont community came together during Lunar New Year season to celebrate the upcoming Year of the Dragon. Some 5C events, exhibitions, and excursions that took place over the weekend of Feb. 9-11 included the CSSA (Chinese Students and Scholars Association) spring festival, language resident Manxi Wang’s dumpling making and Scripps’ Clark Humanities Museum “Year of the Dragon” reception.
5C Lunar New Year events impacted by pandemic for second consecutive year
Like many festivities whose in-person celebrations have been altered by COVID-19, Lunar New Year celebrations by Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese student associations were limited once again this year.