The Lunar New Year is a timeless holiday that’s been celebrated for many generations.
The Puget Sound area in general has a very prominent Asian community, and because of that we see many different ways to celebrate this holiday, on campus and in our city. With our Asian Student Union’s preparation for EvCC’s Lunar New Year celebration, they’re creating awareness for the holiday.
On Jan. 30 from 4-8 p.m. in Jackson Conference Center room 101, EvCC’s Lunar New Year celebration, with dragon dancing themed activities and plenty of food.
Tina Bui is an advisor for the Asian Student Union and is helping put together the Lunar New Year celebration of 2025 on campus. Bui’s family is Vietnamese, and every New Year they always gather together, have dinner and give wishes (blessings) to pray for a good year.
Bui has been greatly influenced by her family traditions and this motivates her to help bring people together and share the culture and community Lunar New Year gives.
“Many people are away from home. International students coming from all over, and it can get very lonely,” Bui said when asked about the EvCC Lunar New Year celebration. “So this(EvCC celebration) helps give a feeling of belonging, and community.”
Bui loves to help give our international students a bit of home, as well as share the culture with non Asian students that want to learn and celebrate as well.
There are so many customs and traditions to celebrate, which differ depending on the country they’re from. Debbie Lau is a Chinese immigrant, running an independent baking business to provide desserts of all kinds for any occasion, and Lunar New Year is no exception. Though Debbie’s personal traditions for Lunar New Year are a bit different compared to the food she’s often commissioned to make.
When the holidays rolled around certain materials were scarce, so Lau’s family had to get creative when it came to traditions. Lau’s mom would always make a special type of cookie for the holiday pronounced Gwok Jai, which she made with chicken fat for the dough to substitute for butter.
Though things have changed a lot over the years, Lau still makes the same cookies the way her mom did to honor that childhood memory when the new year arrives.
“It’s a new beginning, a fresh start,” Lau commented. “It’s family gathering together. To me Chinese New Year is like the American Thanksgiving.”
It doesn’t matter where you are or where you come from, at the end of the day, Lunar New Year is about communities coming together to celebrate and hope for the future year. The Asian Student Union is well aware of this, and people like Bui are making sure to provide good food and festivities for the celebration.
