Celebrating Lunar New Year

Students celebrate Lunar New Year Feb. 1 with cultural food and paper lanterns in James Stukel Towers.

By Bri Cooper — cooperb@uic.edu

Lunar New Year is a celebratory time in East Asia that brings together family, friends and loved ones to welcome prosperity and good fortune into their lives. In Campus Housing’s James Stukel Towers (JST), residents did just that Feb. 1 by engaging in fun activities that taught them the history and culture behind this month-long holiday.

More than 80 residents came together in JST for a night of celebration. Residents made their own wontons, Chinese dumplings that are steamed. Residents worked together to create the filling before wrapping their own wontons. The activity gave residents an opportunity to get behind the scenes and make something simple and delicious for the New Year.

Nearly 400 wontons were produced in a single night, and not a single one remained.

Residents also made paper lanterns to hang in their residence hall rooms.

Red envelopes also were distributed and residents wrote fortunes and “good luck” notes to give to their friends.