Bolles’ first Lunar New Year party took place on Saturday, January 25. The party consisted of performances by students, various activities, catered food and more.
The proposal to have a Lunar New Year party came from Mrs. Rothschild, an upper school Chinese teacher, who said she had the idea for a party like this for many years and told the Chinese club about it. The suggestion was received well and the Chinese club got to work setting it up.
Rothschild thought the idea of the party was important because the holiday is not only celebrated in China. It is actually celebrated by lots of countries in Asia and around the world. “The Chinese culture spread out to all those Asian countries,” said Rothschild. “The wonderful traditions are one of the reasons it is celebrated in other Asian countries.”
There are places in the United States and Canada that celebrate it as well. “You have a Chinatown in New York, in Canada, everywhere,” said Rothschild. ”Those people celebrate in their local communities, really Chinese New Year is becoming a world event.”
The night started with a talent show in Lynch Theater including cultural performances and lasting about an hour. Over 120 people attended the Lunar New Year party—so many people signed up that the registration link had to be shut down four days early. “We set up 120 chairs but in the end a lot of people came late and they didn’t have a chair so they had to stand up in the back,” said Rothschild.
The party was open to the entire community, not just members of the Chinese Club. The majority of students were from the upper school but there were kids from the lower and middle schools along with some parents. “The majority of the people are students taking Chinese from Level One all the way to AP. We do have a portion of the students who don’t take Chinese at all and they still want to celebrate Chinese holidays with us,” said Rothschild.
“You have a show, you have food, you have fun games to play, of course, if you have nothing to do on Saturday we encourage people to pop in,” said Rothschild. “I think that’s what attracted people.”
Food for the party was catered by a local Chinese restaurant. The goal was to have the partygoers taste authentic Chinese food at the party. “We wanted to give them not just an American-style Chinese, we wanted them to taste authentic Chinese,” said Rothschild.
Food items such as egg rolls and dumplings were served because they are both typical Lunar New Year foods. Dumplings are symbolic of family unity in the new year, while egg rolls symbolize golden bars and bringing in wealth.
There were traditional Chinese pork buns and American-Chinese food such as fried rice, chicken dishes, and vegetable dishes. There was also freshly made boba tea in the dining hall so students could make their own tea.
The party had different cultural activities for people to take part in. There were stations with Chinese arts and crafts, tea-tasting, traditional games, chopstick contests, and more. These activities wrapped up the celebration.
This was the first year that there was a Chinese Lunar New Year party. Hopefully, the event will become a lasting tradition each year.
