I am a member of the Multicultural Student Association on campus, and have been so pumped at how much of a wonderful year we have had! A week ago, we attended the Chinese New Year celebration in Chinatown Boston, to get a glimpse at traditional Chinese customs. Our tour guide was our President Rebecca Chu. I learned so much from this experience.
We first started out going to Chou Chow City, a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Here’s a few quick lessons about dim sum, very popularly and typically eaten for breakfast (even though we ate for lunch). It is eaten by not only Chinese, but Vietnamese and other countries have their own variations as well.
We then spent a lot of the time walking around Chinatown engaging in the festivities. We saw many of the famous dragon dances along the way, where performers would stop by the doors of each apartment and local business storefront, knock on the door and dance to musical drums and instruments at their doorstep.
They would also occasionally throw firecrackers in the midst of their performance. Why? The significance of the firecrackes has a traditional origin. It’s meant to rid of the bad luck/energy from last year to create a more positive new year. Check out the video on the left to see the firework spectacular. Check the video on the right to hear from MSA’s President about the meaning of the fireworks. Click any of the videos below to enlarge it.
Although the food in Chinatown is considered by those who know real Chinese food by no terms “real” Chinese food, we still had a taste and a tip on the significance of all of the food eaten, the way the food eaten reflects the culture and how it should taste. Going to Chinatown put us out of our daily American zone and allowed me to really feel the pride of diversity and interculturalism with my peers and in my region, and how all cultures from all backgrounds can come together on the same day to celebrate a common interest–the New Year. Check out this video, which our Treasurer Dyna caught was significant, showing the dynamic contrasts between metropolitan Boston and traditional Chinatown, but at the same time showing the beauty of the two living together in the same space and how different societies can survive and be able to celebrate their difference with pride!
Being at Wentworth has given me opportunities like these to explore new things (of course, out of the budget of the organization), connect with friends new and old alike, and discover new ways of seeing life in a way that is beyond my textbooks.
