the y ear of the rabbit welcoming

out long noodles, chang shou mian, while the young experiment with new flavors and create modern renditions of traditional favorites.

For Julia Liu (12), the president of the TPHS Asian Student Union (ASU), food plays an integral role in conveying the main message of the Lunar New Year.

“My family always makes a huge feast the night before the new year,” Liu said. “We make dumplings by hand all together, which are a symbol of community.” values to their children and young community.

Loved ones join together to enjoy other activities as well: adorning homes with fiery red and gold decorative couplets, dui lian, reciting poetry and retelling ancestral myths.

TPHS AP Chinese Language and Culture teacher Lu Qi honors the traditional values of the holiday by including them in activities like making dumplings.

“I want to pass down these traditions to my own children and my students because it is important that they value their culture and their self-identity,” Qi said. “It is very important to continue these traditions through generations and generations.”

On Jan. 20, the ASU and Qi’s AP Chinese class organized a Lunar New Year celebration in the quad at lunch, setting up activities to teach students of all cultures about the festival.

“I think people who don’t celebrate this holiday should still learn about it,” Liu said. “If you want to understand your community and its diversity, learning about Lunar New Year can help you do that.” celebrated by over two billion people across the globe. For 15 days, ordinary life in countries across Asia like China, Korea and Singapore comes to a standstill as families gather together to greet the beginning of spring. This year, the holiday falls on Jan. 26, marking the start of the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac cycle.

Whether at a traditional ceremony or a modernized celebration, Lunar New Year evokes the same feelings of togetherness and gratitude for all those who celebrate it. It is a commemoration of dualism, of change and continuity, of bringing together the old and the new.

Rachel Yang (11) feels that these activities would be incomplete without close friends and family to enjoy them with.

“I think you can really feel the true energy of Lunar New Year when you are around more people, witnessing all of the awesome activities,” Yang said.

Originating about 3,500 years ago in China, the holiday is traditionally a time to celebrate the harvest and worship ancestors.

Over the centuries, the festival has evolved into a multitude of variations, though the main values have remained intact.

“The Lunar New Year usually means tradition to me,” AP Chinese student Zoe Huang (10) said. “It is because there are so many things from what we wear to the gifts we give that are steeped in superstition.”

A motif of kinship and familial harmony is infused into every aspect of the holiday, especially in the traditional New Year’s Eve dinner, or nian ye fan. The kitchen is a place where the orthodox family values of Lunar New Year gatherings are honored.

Older generations instruct their children and grandchildren on the meticulous process of steaming fish, yu, and delicately rolling

Dong-Yeop (David) Lee (10) welcomes the Korean version of Lunar New Year, Seollal, similarly surrounded by loved ones, playing folk games and making New Year’s resolutions.

“In joy of the new year, my whole family comes together in unity,” Lee said.

One of the most sacred activities seen across many variations of Lunar New Year is the gifting of little red pockets, hong bao, filled with money. These envelopes are usually given from elders to children, yet another instance of generational unity in Lunar New Year.

The multi-generational connections made during the celebration of this rich festival serve as a touchstone for second-generation students living outside of their parents’ home country to connect with their heritage.

“This festival is really great because it is a chance to appreciate my culture, especially in the U.S. where I feel like a lot of children of immigrants may sometimes feel disconnected from their roots,” Cindy Xue (11) said.

In parallel, first-generation immigrant parents and adults see the Lunar New Year as an opportunity to pass down their traditions and

In a world that so often tears people apart, Lunar New Year shows us humans’ great capacity for love and community.

by Joy Ma and Natalia Mochernak

YEAR-ROUND

At Play Occupational Therapy Services Inc. is a full-service private practice that supports students whohavedifficultywithhandwriting,activitiesofdaily living,sensoryprocessing,self-regulation,visualspatial skills, and fine and gross motor delays.

Five cats prowl the colorful room at the San Diego Cat Cafe, stuffed with everything they could dream of: cat trees, toys, warm beds and fuzzy ledges. At this cat cafe, one can enjoy both a coffee and the warm presence of cats.

The cat cafe concept originates back to Taiwan, as early as 1998. As they became popular with Japanese tourists, they spread to Japan, where the first Japanese cat cafe opened in 2004. Now, there are over 150 cat cafes across Japan.

Inside one such cat cafe in Tokyo, it was “very clean, sort of dark and very calm. It was inside of a library, basically,” according to Kylie Lai (10).

In contrast, the cat cafe in downtown San Diego features large windows that let natural light in. The walls are covered in colorful decals, and a variety of cat toys, beds and towers fill the room. Three tables line a wall for people to sit and enjoy their drink and play with the cats. Sitting by one of the windows was a small cat named Jacey, undisturbed by the visitors streaming in and out.

Five or so cats wander around the room, though this number will likely be smaller by the end of the week as one or two cats are adopted. Every cat is up for adoption and provided by The Rescue House, an organization that helps with the adoption process.

“Some of [the cats] we develop good relationships with, and we start to like them a lot, and those are the ones that are hardest to see go but…we figure that if we didn’t send cats home, we wouldn’t have had a chance to meet them,” Tony Wang, founder and general manager of the Cat Cafe, said.

There are two cats he will never have to say goodbye to. Leo and Jacey are permanent residents of the cafe.

Since its opening in January of 2015, 726 cats have been adopted from the San Diego Cat Cafe.

Part of the reason for this high number of adoptions is that people are able to see and connect with the cats in a cozier atmosphere.

“I feel like [the Cat Cafe is] more accessible because you interact with them better and then you can see if the cat likes you back,” Tisya Nair (12), who visited the Cat Cafe, said.

In particular, Nair connected with Martin — a gray kitty with the sweetest green eyes — who sat perched atop one of the many palm-tree-shaped cat towers that dot the room.

Working with the Cat Cafe has been an ideal partnership for the Rescue House.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase our cats in a more natural environment,”

Trace Cimins, a volunteer for the

Rescue House, said. “Our other adoption centers are at two Petsmarts and a Petco, so [the cats] are in cages, whereas at the Cat Cafe, they have free range of the facility, so people can get a much better idea of what their personalities will be like.”

One cat with the perfect personality for the Cat Cafe is Plaza, a medium-haired one-year-old. She is very sociable, something The Rescue House looks for when they place cats at the Cat Cafe.

The Rescue House also works closely with foster homes to ensure they will be a good fit at the Cat Cafe.

“When [the liaison between the Rescue House and foster homes is] assigning cats she’s working closely with fosters to make sure they are social…and that they are good eaters, not ones that are scared and nervous and will stop eating,” Cimins said.

Adoption is not the only reason people come to the Cat Cafe. Spending time with the cats is therapeutic as well. In fact, according to the American Heart Association, 95% of pet owners rely on their pet for stress relief.

“We’ll have folks who visit from Comic-Con, and they just like having us as an oasis to get away from all the crowds and the craziness,” Wang said. “People going to jury duty come here for the same reason.”

This proved to be true for Nair as well, as she felt “less stressed” after interacting with the cats. For Lai, the experience was simply “peaceful.”

The cats also seem to find as much peace as the people do. By the end of the hour, Jenny, a six-month-old shorthair kitten, curled up on a cozy ledge to nap.

Even during COVID-19, Wang helped the cats to keep their peace.

“During the pandemic when the world shut down, Tony, the owner of the Cat Cafe…wasn’t open for business to customers, but he was still open as basically a foster home…Tony was allowing us to bring interested people in to meet specific cats,” Cimins said.

Despite the challenges that COVID-19 presented, the Cat Cafe’s presence in downtown San Diego is thriving once again.

“We’re back stronger and better than we were pre-pandemic,” Wang said.

Gracing the visitors with his presence at the very end of the hour was Bernard, a six month old kitten with a tuft of white fur on his chest.

by Cass Love