By Tyler Hinton
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2007, Nicole Dowdle enjoyed an eclectic evening of performances by Asian singers, instrumentalists, dancers and taekwondo artists, sponsored by the Chinese Scholars Student Association.
Dowdle, a sophomore in pre-art and pre-business, liked the violin performance of electrical engineering graduate student Ruan Zhuo from Beijing. She invited Ruan, whom she met previously at Asian Fest, to share a Chinese New Year meal with her and her roommates.
The Sandy native, who spent two semesters in 2005 and 2006 teaching English in Ningboh, China, across the bay from Shanghai, prepared spicy cucumbers, stir-fried cabbage, eggplant, dumplings and, of course, rice.
'I wanted to keep the Chinese spirit alive,' she said about the intimate gathering. 'I miss China quite a lot. I think about it all the time.'
This month, Asians and non-Asians alike are celebrating Chinese New Year at BYU in a variety of venues. The holiday, also called the Spring Festival, is traditionally celebrated in China for 15 days beginning the first day of the lunar calendar.
Samily Kwok, a senior from Hong Kong majoring in public relations, expressed its importance to the Chinese people.
'Our Chinese New Year is like Thanksgiving here,' she said. 'It''s a time our families can become closer, because in these 15 days of holidays we visit our family and friends, eat a lot and receive money in red envelopes, which we believe will bring us good luck for the year.'
Despite their distance from home, Chinese students still try to find ways to celebrate the festival at BYU.
'Because most of us are away from our families, we have to find someone with our same background to get together and have dinner,' Kwok said. 'Of course, we don''t get the red envelope from our families, but we can still find the spirit of Chinese New Year here.'
Last Thursday, the Chinese department sponsored a culture night with traditional dishes, games and a question and answer session with faculty members. The following evening, the Singapore, Taiwanese and Hong Kong student associations celebrated with homemade food and karaoke - an Asian favorite.
Kwok found it interesting that although the countries observe the same holiday, they prepare different foods. In Hong Kong, they serve a whole fish with the head and tail intact, while raw salmon salad is favored in Singapore. The names of both dishes have auspicious meanings in Chinese.
Sam Henderson, a Mandarin commissions agent for Tahitian Noni, remembers loud fireworks, bright parades and mounds of food during Chinese New Year in Taichung, Taiwan, where he served his mission.
Henderson, activities co-chairman in the BYU 104th Ward, is planning a Chinese New Year party for his ward on Friday. The activity will include winter gourd drink, sweet and sour chicken, fried rice and dumplings, Twister in Chinese, a 50-foot dragon as well as Chinese character writing lessons.
Nanette Lefrandt, a sophomore from Aiea, Hawaii, majoring in sociology, is helping Henderson plan the activity. She said Chinese New Year is widely celebrated in her home state because of the fusion of Asian cultures there. She enjoys learning about it.
'There''s lots of opportunities on campus to learn about different cultures,' she said. 'They''re a lot of fun.'
Kwok, who is president of the Hong Kong Student Association, agrees.
'I think BYU is great because the school gives students opportunities to form student groups for their own countries,' she said. 'That''s how we can come together to celebrate these festivals that are important to us.'