Hopping into Food

“The celebrations we throw are fun, but the point is to build community specifically through the lens of diversity and allow a group at TJ to share their culture,” PTSA Diversity Chair Michele Hyde said. Students had the opportunity to try out cultural activities such as calligraphy, fan painting, and the Dalgona candy challenge from the popular Korean drama, Squid Game.

by Laura Zhang

Plucking the zither strings, senior Tiffany Lee plays classical Chinese music. “I’ve never learned how to play Chinese zither, but it looks really cool,” Wu said. “When one of my friends heard Tiffany play the first song, they said their mom always sings that, so I thought that was a nice connection.”

“The calligraphy was really cool since the ink was originally clear, but when it touched the paper it turned black. Over time, the ink on the paper faded away, which I found super interesting,” freshman Olivia Wu said.

Even though Lin has celebrated Lunar New Year for his entire life, the activities at Jefferson’s celebration helped him delve deeper into the history and meaning behind the holiday’s traditions.

“Around Chinese New Year, I’ll often ask my parents ‘what are these?’ about different foods and celebration items, so it was nice to get a better idea of how to say things in Chinese and Cantonese and how they’re involved in Chinese New Year,” Lin said.

Food was a highlight of Jefferson’s event. Over 500 students sampled various Asian foods, including spring rolls, dumplings, sushi and noodles.

“We need a lot of volume, so we ordered some food using donations. But part of the point of these events is sharing cultures, so I absolutely want parents to bring a special homemade dish they made,” Hyde said.

Another important aspect of Lunar New Year are red envelopes, which symbolize prosperity and luck. During the holiday, families and friends often give each other red envelopes filled with money.

Line

Eyeing the noodles, junior Kyle Nguyen goes down the food line. “There was a lot of variety with the food, like fancier homemade dishes and cultural snacks,” Lin said. “It was nostalgic eating food I had when was younger.”

“I usually get red envelopes from my relatives as a gift for Chinese New Year, so I thought it was a nice touch that we got them at TJ’s celebration,” junior Zani Xu said.

The celebration also featured performances by students, including junior Darren Kao and sophomore Jaydon Sun’s diabolo performance. Diabolo, or Chinese yo-yo, involves spinning and balancing an hourglass-shaped object on a string.

“I feel like diabolo is a really cool skill to share. There’s a big spike of nervousness when you see the people there, but in the middle of our performance, I started smiling, so it got better,” Kao said.

Students also enjoyed the opportunity to connect with their peers at the celebration, especially because it’s not always feasible for students to reunite with their families during the Lunar New Year. “We didn’t really do much at home [for Lunar New Year] because it’s kind of boring when it’s just ourselves,” Wu said. “I jumped at the opportunity to attend a celebration with my friends.”

Rabbit Art Fan Painting

To celebrate the Year of the Rabbit, Juniors Yushu Zhang, Sophia Lu and Alan Fan fold a chain of paper rabbits. “Chinese New Year alternates through 12 zodiac signs,” Lin said. “2023 corresponds to the rabbit zodiac sign, but next year it will be a different animal, and so on.”

In China, fans are a symbol for the full moon and often feature calligraphy or landscape painting. After practicing on paper, senior Emma Cox draws Chinese characters on a fan using a calligraphy brush.