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February 3, 2022
Students celebrate Lunar New Year in Chapel and beyond
About 1.5 billion people, or 20% of the world’s population, celebrate Lunar New Year. During Chapel in Memorial Hall on Monday, Feb. 1, that number included the SPS community.
Led by Language teacher Jenny Li, international students and those in the Chinese program and Chinese Society welcomed the Year of the Tiger with song, dance, music, Kung Fu, tai chi, and hope for even better days to come.
Traditionally, families gather to celebrate the Lunar New Year, which offers a new start and new energy. The international holiday is celebrated for a length of time that ranges between three days in South Korea and 15 days in China.
The Year of the Tiger is third in the 12-animal Chinese zodiac cycle, and, as explained by SPS Chinese Society heads Henry Pan ’23, Anna Purvis ’22, Anna Samel ’22, and Jason Zeng ’22, the tiger “reminds us of bravery and confidence.” The whole world is one family, they said.
SPS’s celebration included a traditional Dragon Dance, the breakout Seaweed Dance, the popular Cantonese song “The Boundless Sea and Sky,” and more.
International students, far from their families on a special holiday, filled the width of the Memorial Hall stage to sing, “Tomorrow Will Be Better,” their numbers bolstered as the other performers joined them in the finale.
“They are far from their families on an incredibly important day,” Rector Kathy Giles said, encouraging even more applause during the standing ovation. “Happy New Year, and our best wishes to your families who are missing you today.”
A hot pot dinner for international students concluded the celebration of the highly anticipated holiday that, for Chinese language students, began with decorating classrooms on Thursday followed by a dumpling making party on Friday; and a schoolwide celebration Saturday night featuring an Asian food expo, games, calligraphy, and karaoke.
