Otterbein Asian Community Brings Lunar New Year to Campus, Feb. 19

Every year, when the Lunar New Year arrives, Asian communities across America come alive with the colors, sounds, and celebrations of the most important holiday of the year. This year marks the year of the Fire Horse.

Many communities hold Lunar New Year festivals, and this year the Otterbein Asian Community (OAC) is bringing the celebration to campus. 

Lunar Fest will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19, on the first floor of the Campus Center. You won’t want to miss the cultural traditions, food, photobooth, and games, as well as Special performances by Ohio Wushu Academy, Dance of Soul, and the Oriental Dance Troupe.  #INST and #CardsStandTogether approved.

Lunar Fest will reflect community festivals, which feature lion dances, fashion shows, and music.

For Vietnamese Americans, Lunar New Year is called Tet. Dylan Truong, president of OAC, celebrates Tet with his family each year.

“For me, the Lunar New Year is about taking away anything bad and negative and starting fresh with positive energy. I pray to my grandparents and ancestors for health and strength for the new year,” Truong said.

Truong’s family has altars in their home to honor their ancestors, where they burn incense. When celebrating Tet, Truong wears traditional Vietnamese clothes called Ao Dai, which are worn for Lunar New Year and weddings.

Konwei Duong traces his family to both Vietnam and China, but says his family is less traditional and celebrates the Lunar New Year with a large meal with his extended family to honor their ancestors.  

“The dinner is buffet style. You take a bit from each plate, but people will also give you the best pieces of food as a sign of respect,” Duong said. Traditional food includes roast duck, fruit, moon cakes, water chestnuts, and peanuts. 

Truong and Duong also explained the tradition of li xi, or red envelopes with money inside that are passed from older to younger or married to unmarried people.  

“The envelopes are for luck and prosperity,” Truong said. “Mostly it’s for the kids to enjoy.” 

Duong also noted that Lunar New Year decor includes peach or apricot blossoms. “Lunar New Year marks the start of spring and symbolizes growth.” 

While the Vietnamese Tet shares roots with the broader Lunar New Year, different countries celebrate in distinct ways. Across these cultures, the themes of renewal, good fortune, and family unity remain universal, but each community expresses them with its own history, food, and rituals.

Here is how other students celebrate the Lunar New Year:

Sophia Becknell

Chinese Traditions 

Before the new year, we prepare by cleaning out our homes, buying new clothes, and getting haircuts. During the holiday, we wear a traditional cheongsam outfit. Red and gold are in many decorations to represent good luck and wealth. We greet one another saying “San Nin Fai Lok” (happy new year) and “Gong Hei Faat Choi” (hope you get rich)! 

It’s common to have elders or parents give the younger generation hongbao (Mandarin)/ laycee bao (Cantonese) with money inside. It’s a transaction where the children go up to their elders saying, “gong hei gong hei” (wishing them good luck) and the elders will gift them a red envelope! 

The new year’s meal typically is buffet style and consists of dishes that take a lot of time and care to make. Here are some examples: dumplings (which are usually made together as a family and shaped like ancient ingots, representing togetherness and prosperity); longevity (or long-life) noodles, rice cake (each year you stack higher and higher); and a whole steamed fish (symbolizes abundance Yú, the word for fish, is a homonym for the Chinese term for abundance). 

We share a big meal — family style so we can bring home leftovers and have plenty of food for the new year!

Jinjoon Lee 

South Korean Traditions 

I’m South Korean and our Lunar New Year is called Seollal (설날). Seollal is typically celebrated by families gathering together to celebrate the new year of the Korean Lunar Calendar. We wear traditional Korean attire called Hanboks (한복), which are colorful, flowy traditional clothing.  

Historically, Seollal was a day to honor ancestors, pray for good harvest, and perform Korean rituals. I remember in my childhood, when I lived within driving distance from my grandparents, me and my family would go to my grandparents’ house, and me and my siblings would perform sebae (세배) to my grandparents. Sebae is an act of bowing to our elders, and it represents respect to our elders, which reflects a significant part of Korean culture. Before performing sebae, my mom would teach us to recite “새해 복 많이 받으세요” to say to our grandparents during sebae, which translates to: “Have many blessing in this new year.”  

As a reward for the new year and our respect, my grandparents would wish us back a happy new year and give us money, which is traditionally called sebaetdon (세뱃돈).  

We would gather together to eat  Tteokguk (떡국), which is a rice cake soup with seaweed, sliced egg, and broth. In Korea, it is said that every time you eat Tteokguk during Seollal, you turn one year older. 

To me, Lunar New Year, or Korean Seollal, is about spending time with family, getting together to celebrate the new year, and reflecting on past years as a family. It is about eating good food together, showing respect towards one another, and spending time with loved ones.