Laker Life

GVL/Carol Dalrymple. As drummers drummed this traditional Asain dragon danced its way through the crowd.

ASU celebrates year of the tiger

By Tracy Gershon GVL Staff Writer
2/7/2010

Kirkhof Center will transform into an area of celebration Thursday for the Asian New Year Festival, sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Asian Student Union and various other organizations.

Each year, people of Asian cultures celebrate this 15-day event by taking time off from work, in some cases, and spending quality time with their families.

Asian New Year begins on the first day of the month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th day.

The 15th day, or "Lantern Day," is when families string paper lanterns containing illuminated candles around their homes and on trees.

The holiday celebrates Asian heritage and cultural traditions, which vary among families and from culture to culture. The focus of the festival is religion, family, hope and peace. People celebrate it to welcome the coming of spring and expectations of a vibrant year.

Some families give money to children and other family members, said ASU member Stephanie Ly.

She added families will also clean their homes before Asian New Year to get rid of misfortunes that may have happened that year and to bring in good luck and positive energy for the incoming year.

To count the years, the Chinese calendar uses 12 different animals: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

"The superstition is that different animals have different traits which are endowed to people who are born in those years," said Patrick Shan, Chinese history professor at Grand Valley State University.

ASU will host this event and has planned numerous traditional celebrations for students, faculty and staff to enjoy, including a traditional dragon dance, authentic foods from various cultures and martial arts performances.

Although typically celebrated in May, the Asian Pacific American Heritage Celebration on campus will also take place in February this year.

"I thought hosting the celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage in February within the Asian New Year Festival when campus is more vibrant than in the summer benefits a larger number of our campus community," said Connie Dang, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. "Asian Pacific American Heritage celebrates the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States and how Chinese workers assisted building the transcontinental railroad which was completed on May 10, 1869."

The first day of the Asian New Year Festival is often started off by families gathering together and enjoying fireworks as well as ancestral worshipping, Dang and Shan said.

"It is important for Asian Americans to celebrate the festival because it is honoring their culture," Shan said. "This is a time for social gatherings, family, and religious celebrations."

tgershon@lanthorn.com

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