It’s the year of the tiger! How do our students and staff celebrate?
On February 1st 2022, 1.5 billion people celebrated Lunar New Year, intending to bring in luck and prosperity into the new year. Celebrated for 15 days, the holiday is mostly celebrated in countries such as China, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. Many traditions include decorating the house, giving out red envelopes filled with money, and eating big meals with family and friends.
The North Star News interviewed celebrating students and teachers at Niles North to hear about their traditions and experience with the holiday. Common traditions were deep cleaning the entire house to start the new year fresh and spending time with family.
Along with the holiday come many memories. Chinese teacher Limin Dove, said, “When I was a kid my favorite [tradition] was definitely red envelopes, to get those red envelopes … The envelope is filled with money …The red color usually symbolizes good luck and is a symbol to ward off evil spirits!” Kieran Tu, a Freshman at Niles North says, “[My favorite memory is] my grandparents coming and cooking a really big meal.”
Social studies teacher Albert Chan, said his new favorite tradition is watching his kids participate in the traditional lion dance. “There’s like kung fu style moves that you have to learn the basics of kung fu stances and stuff like that. But the lion is supposed to chase away the evil spirits so there’s a lot of drums and cymbals and gong playing. And you perform typically the dance in front of peoples homes, in front of restaurants and businesses and stuff like that.”
For many people, Lunar New Year is an important holiday that is celebrated.
“It is important to me, because it’s part of my culture and it’s a way for me to connect with members of my family that I don’t necessarily talk to as much or see as much and a way for me to connect to my culture. Plus good food,” senior Adeline Nguyen said.
Math teacher Gary Chu said, “I’m still learning more about my family history and so there aren’t a lot of holidays that folks like us can celebrate and even if it’s just this one and we have Asian Pacific Heritage Month as well but like it’s something to tie me back to my roots, there’s always an excuse to bring family together to eat.”
North Star News wishes the community a happy new year filled with luck and prosperity!
Reiana is a Freshman at Niles North. She enjoys fashion, reading, and listening to Lana Del Rey. Her inspirations are Jennie Kim & Lorelai Gilmore.
Penelope is a junior and this is her third year on NSN, serving as Managing Editor and the Opinions and Photos editor. She loves to express her opinions...
Carol Throckmorton • Feb 17, 2022 at 2:13 pm
Great effort, Penny. I too enjoyed learning about this celebration, and the first-hand experiences were a nice touch. Writing is all about communication and education, both of which are very important on our world. I’m looking forward to reading more articles!
Janet • Feb 11, 2022 at 4:41 pm
Interesting article!!!!
Krista Verdun • Feb 11, 2022 at 4:33 pm
Excellent writing. I learned a lot from this article. I really liked how you incorporated stories from the students and staff to make it more personal to your readers!