by MEGAN NORTHCOTE
Intern Lifestyles Reporter

As Appalachian State University students return to the grind of spring semester classes, two clubs on campus have found ways to celebrate the new year in style.

The Chinese Friendship Association will celebrate the Chinese Lunar Moon New Year’s Festival today at 7 p.m. in the Blue Ridge Ballroom of Plemmons Student Union.

The Appalachian Chinese Friendship Association pose in East Hall Sunday wearing traditional dress attire while practicing for the Chinese Lunar Moon New Year's Festival. Photo by Alisha Park.

“People don’t know much about Asians, so by having this event, people will get a glimpse into different Asian cultures,” Amanda Pindar, president of the Chinese Club and junior accounting major, said.

Zhiyuan Chen, Chinese and Spanish professor, said traditionally, the Chinese New Year celebration lasts for 23 or 24 days beginning in late December and ending in January or February, depending on the Chinese moon calendar.

This year, Americans observed the holiday yesterday.

The Chinese Friendship Association hopes to bring the campus together through food, fellowship and music.

Other performances include poetry readings, Chinese songs, tai chi demonstrations and fireworks in Sanford Mall.

To help students learn more about the Asian culture, the Asian Student Association will host their 10th annual Asian Festival, “Fish Sauce or Soy Sauce:

Breaking Stereotypes” Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Blue Ridge Ballroom of the student union.

This festival will feature a fashion show highlighting stereotypes that many people associate with the Asian population.

“There is so much ignorance on campus that we need to educate people about,” Judy Yang, president of ASA and junior art education major, said.

Kingsavanh P. Philavong, a freshman graphic and imaging technology major, will play the role of an Asian gang member in the fashion show.

“[Asian] gangs start because [Asian immigrants to America] get lonely and don’t know who to hang out with,” Philavong, a native of Laos, said. 

Other stereotypes represented will include a math nerd, a nail salon worker and a rice paddy worker.

Philavong will also break dance with Toubee Yang, a junior child development major, to show case their skills.

For Chen, the Chinese New Year is a celebration of firsts and new beginnings. Friends and family visit one another, offering each other gifts of food and blessings in hopes their new year will be filled with happiness and a plentiful harvest.

However, Kim M. Waldron, a sophomore psychology major and member of the club, hopes students will come not just for the food; but also to embrace diversity on campus.

 “If students get over this bridge of free food versus why am I eating the food, then they will begin to learn more about the Chinese culture,” Waldron said.

Samantha France G. Bagood, a freshman English major, will dance to a Hmong song dressed in the traditional attire of this Southeast Asian ethnic group.

Participants in this festival represent a variety of different Asian ethnic groups on campus.

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