What Lunar New Year looks like for Penn State internationals
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Although February might be one of the coldest months for Penn Staters, it keeps international students warm and their traditions alive as the month marks the start of a Lunar new year.
Lunar New Year is a widely celebrated holiday in most East and Southeast Asian cultures, with more than 1.5 billion people celebrating it every year. Countries like China, Vietnam, Mongolia, and South Korea celebrate the two-week-long event in hopes of prosperity, happiness, well-being, and new beginnings.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the State College borough is home to more than 4,600 residents of Asian heritage, making up nearly 11% of the total population. This year of the Tiger, Penn State international students have found different ways to stay in touch with their tradition despite being thousands of miles away from home.
Trinh Le, hospitality management senior and president of the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA), was “really looking forward” to the VSA Lunar New Year celebration — Tet 2022, on Feb. 20.
“Even though I didn’t get to celebrate the new year with my family, I believe [this] would still be a memorable event because I get to do it with my friends,” Le said.
‘Tet’ is the term for Lunar New Year in Vietnamese. The Vietnamese culture is family-oriented and gives prominence to ancestor worship. Le shared that in Vietnam, she usually celebrates Lunar New Year by going to the temple, paying respect to her ancestors, visiting families and friends, and receiving lucky money in red envelopes from elders.
“The main point of these activities is to celebrate what we have accomplished in the past year and welcome the new year,” Le said. “‘Gathering’ is the meaning of Tet.”
Traditionally, Geyi Zhang, senior — broadcast journalism, embraces the holiday by making dumplings, watching Chinese year-end galas, and setting off firecrackers. This year, he celebrated by making homecooked dishes with friends.
“[We] had people from different parts of China with our best dishes,” Zhang said.
Lunar New Year for Zhang is a means to stay in touch with his roots as a China native.
“It defines who I am and tells me where I’m from,” Zhang spoke on the hate crimes targeting Asians for Covid-19. “We can’t deny where we’re from just because somebody hates us.”
Korean film production senior Hyun-Woo Sohn also shares Zhang’s perspective.
“I just don’t want to lose that connection of who I was and who I still am now,” Sohn said. “In the end, that’s my identity as a person.”
For Sohn, Lunar New Year is also the time to honor the elders. Sohn thought it might seem “extreme,” but he also called his grandparents and did “the little bow” on New Year’s Eve.
“’Cheol’ is the Korean word for paying respect by bowing,” Sohn said. “The best thing I can do when abroad is call up my parents and relatives and wish them a happy new year. Especially during this time with Covid, it’s a lot harder.”
Bowing to elders is also one of the many Mongolian Lunar New Year customs.
“We bow to our elders […] and we bow in order — from the eldest to the youngest,” said Namun Ganbold, an advertising junior originally from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Ganbold spent most of her childhood and teenage years abroad and away from home.
“I do appreciate Lunar New Year. It’s something that wasn’t really significant as much since we were all raised abroad, so we don’t do it too seriously, but we do try to keep in touch with our roots through our food, greetings…” Ganbold said.
This new year, Ganbold was excited to cherish her traditions of eating a lot on New Year’s Eve and having “white food” such as rice and milk on the first day of the new year.
“[My twin] Handa and I ate a lot of dumplings,” Ganbold said. “It’s just something we did to honor our traditions.”
Penn State Asian Studies Department Head and Professor Erica Brindley thought the holiday was “gaining traction” due to the growing cultural awareness in America.
“To frame [Lunar New Year] as a non-U.S. tradition is also problematic because so many people in the U.S. have that as their heritage,” Brindley said.
She believed that historically in America, the Asian community and their customs have been overlooked.
“I think it’s important to incorporate [Lunar New Year] as a U.S. tradition because we have already been ignoring that portion of our population before. So doing this is a good thing to be inclusive of everybody’s traditional background in various cultures they come from,” she said.
Ganbold was also on the same page. She thought that passing the tradition down is a staple to staying in touch with one’s roots.
“I think it’s important because the next generation, they will be able to at least do a little of what we’re doing.”
