The AISG Community Prepares Itself for the Lunar New Year

AISG students greet a dancing lion during Chinese New Year celebrations, image from AISG Instagram page 

 

Just three weeks after coming back from the winter break, the AISG community is preparing itself for yet another fruitful vacation. The Beacon has been actively engaging with the AISG community by conducting interviews to discover what activities people are participating in and what they prioritize doing during the break. During these next two weeks, some will take time to honor Chinese New Year traditions with their families, while some will use this time to venture out and explore the world.  

 

First, sixth-grader Whale L. plans to stay in Guangzhou with his extended family. He explains his favorite part about the Chinese New Year, “We normally have a big family dinner with all my aunts, uncles, and cousins at one restaurant and talk about what [we’ve done] and listen to the adults say, ‘Oh, look, you grew!’ We also get a lot of red pockets from the elders and eat a lot.”  

 

A significant part of the Chinese New Year is the delicious treats shared in family settings. Whale shares that one of the favorite treats he’s excited to eat this year is steamed fish. He explains the food’s importance can be attributed to what it symbolizes, “In Chinese, fish sounds like ‘plenty left over’ or ‘money’ depending on how you see it, and we say, ‘have money every year,’ so that’s what it symbolizes.” 

 

Over on the faculty side, Secondary English Language and Literature Teacher Ms Audrey Boettcher shares what her family plans to do during the break, “We will celebrate Chinese New Year in Guangzhou with our AISG family!” 

 

The food motif runs consistent, even outside the Chinese culture. Ms. Boettcher continues, “Our AISG colleagues / neighbors will come over for a potluck dinner, and we will all play papelito and laugh a lot!” 

 

Another teacher who is going to be appreciating the tradition of the Chinese New Year is Ms. Bei Lei, an AISG Chinese Language Acquisition Teacher, who is going to be traveling back to her hometown to spend quality time with the older generation in her family, “Traditionally, we went to Grandpa’s place and we cooked a lot of dishes to share on the eve of Chinese New Year. Then on the first day, we got up early and went to grandpa’s place to greet ‘xinniankuaile’ as so to get our ‘hongbao’.” 

 

Even though there’s nice food (and money) on the table, Ms. Lei believes that family remains the central part of the festivities. She revealssick, and we lost our CNY tradition. We still have a banquet at a restaurant, but it doesn’t feel like [the] New Year anymore.” 

 

Some members of the community don’t necessarily partake in the Chinese New Year traditions but still value the time away from school to nurture relationships. For instance, 8th grader Mila W. shares that she will stay in Guangzhou and looks forward to spending quality time with her grandma, whom she hasn’t seen in a while.  

 

Another student who is appreciating the beauty of the Cantonese capital during his break is Grade 9 Noel C., who shares, “I hope that I’ll be able to go do some stuff that I’ve not had the opportunity to do such as watching a movie or going to places such as Parc Central.” 

 

Some students will be leaving China during the break, like Kanishka A. from grade 8. Like her Chinese friends, she will also be using the break to be with her family.  

 

“Over the Chinese New Year break, my family and I are going back to India for about 10 days to reconnect with family and friends and start the Chinese New Year out right by celebrating with loved ones,” she shares.