CSU celebrates Lunar New Year

Event brought MNSU Asian American RSOs together

The 2018 Lunar New Year took place in the CSU Ballroom Saturday, Feb. 3, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

It was an event created to celebrate and share Asian cultures with the public. Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese Chunjie, Vietnamese Tet, Korean Solnal, Hmong Nyob Zoo xyoo tshiab, and Spring

Festival, is a festival typically celebrated in China and other Asian countries that begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends on the first full moon of the lunar calendar, which is about two weeks long.

This event was presented by Asian Pacific Student Organization (APSO) in collaboration with fellow recognized student organizations, Vietnamese American Student Organization (VASA), Chinese American Student Organization (CASO) and Korean Student Association (KSA).

The 2018 Lunar New Year event provided great entertainment and joy with cultural booths, a lion dance, raffles and various performances. The cultural booths were very enlightening to people who are not familiar with Asian cultures, as they could learn and experience each culture of a different country in Asia.

“I think what I enjoyed the most was interacting with people, having fun, and it was a great time to get to know the culture of a different country,” Ji-Young Jang said. Jang is part of the Korean Student Association. “I was surprised that each Asian country has very similar but different culture to one another.”

The night also offered an abundant variety of performances from K-Pop dance and singing to the Japanese traditional dance, “Sōran Bushi” and Thai dancing.

“We have been practicing for this performance every day for two weeks,” said Seung-Hwan Yoon, one of the K-Pop singing performers. “There are many people who like K-Pop at MNSU and I wanted to perform at least once before graduation.”

The unique photo booth, which was made from colorful petals and flowers, was also one of the popular photo spots where visitors took many pictures.

“We put a lot of effort into elaborating the photo booth above everything else,” APSO President Ian Yang said. “I’m so happy that people like the photo booth. APSO tried to make a better event this year. I think that is the reason why many people came for today’s event.”

After the show, there was also a live music after-party brought by DJ Chen. The support which four

Asian student associations have for one another was evident at the event.

“A lot of people attended the event, more than we expected. I appreciate all the support and effort of volunteers, performers, and all the members who helped us to make this great event, “ Yang said.

The 2018 Lunar New Year helped bring about a sense of community among the Asian students at MNSU, inspiring all of us to do great things and to be proud of who we are.

Taehui Park