East Asian celebrations were in full swing last week at Georgian College's Barrie campus as the 2019 Lunar New Year was showcased for everyone to take part in.
The Lunar New Year, which began Feb. 5 and ends Feb. 19, is celebrated by East Asians around the world.
Georgian College has over 2,500 international students with 800 of them from the Far East region, making the annual event a well-celebrated two weeks at the college.
The college's regional manager for East Asia, Lily Li, told BarrieToday that the Lunar New Year is much like one of the western culture’s most revered holiday.
“This is the most important holiday in the eastern Asian culture,” said Li. “It is just like Christmas in Canada with family getting together, shopping, eating special foods and people exchanging red envelopes with money in it for good luck.”
People wear red as much as they can as it represents good luck in the Asian culture and the foods vary from region to region.
Those in China may eat dumplings and if you live in Vietnam you may have sticky rice cake, also known as Chung Cake, or pickled onions.
Georgian College’s Segal International Centre hosted many activities Thursday afternoon for guests to observe and participate in from a traditional East Asian dance, a chopstick competition, a tai chi demonstration and traditional game playing.
With 12 animals representing different years, 2019 is the Year of the Pig.
Li said that the fun side of the pig is a perfect fit for the events at the college today.
“Those born in the Year of the Pig know how to entertain themselves and they enjoy life which is why they are also more motivated to work harder and enjoy better wealth,” said Li.
