By Gabrielle Lewis
When people ring in the Lunar New Year, they normally get to visit family, eat plenty of cultural food and even attend performances. But due to the coronavirus pandemic, some University of Maryland students and alumni had to adjust their celebration plans this year.
One of pandemic’s biggest impacts on Lunar New Year has been the inability to see extended family during the holiday. Nhi Tran, a freshman who intends to study nursing, could only celebrate with her immediate family this year.
“[Normally] I’d come over to my aunt’s house, and we’d just have dinner with my friends,” Tran said. “Their parents and ours would invite their coworkers.” Tran said that everyone would wear traditional Vietnamese clothing, such as áo dài, a long, sometimes colorful tunic.
However, Tran said her family still was able to partake in a lot of their usual traditions. Normally, on the eve of Lunar New Year, they offer food and tea to their ancestors at a shrine and pray for them while holding incense. They also give and receive red envelopes with money and wear red for good luck in the new year.
The biggest difference this year was that lack of company, which is what Tran said she misses the most. “I just miss having friends over,” Tran said. “I feel like that just makes it more fun and enjoyable.”
Junior information science student Ethan Do also had a drastically different celebration because of the pandemic. Normally, his family — including plenty of aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents — would gather at someone’s home to eat dinner.
Do and the rest of the grandchildren and cousins would then go up to each grandparent, aunt and uncle and wish them a happy new year in Vietnamese. But this year, he only celebrated with his immediate family.
“I got to see my grandparents, but I wore a mask,” Do said. “Usually, we go up to all the aunts and uncles, but this year, I just went up to my grandparents and said happy new year in Vietnamese.”
For some students, the pandemic didn’t affect how they celebrated at all. Lily Li, a junior economics and finance major, always celebrates with her immediate family since most of her other relatives live in China.
Her family usually eats a large feast together the night before the year officially starts. The day of, they eat dumplings and “longevity” noodles that symbolize good luck and longevity in life. They also call relatives in China to wish them a happy new year and receive red envelopes.
This new year marks the year of the ox in the Chinese zodiac, which represents prosperity and wealth.
“We’re kind of looking for good luck,” Li said. “We were kind of happy that it’s the year of the ox just because cows and ox … I feel like they represent good fortune and prosperity in a lot of different cultures, not just Chinese culture.”
For Julia Zhen, who graduated from UMD in May 2019, the year of the ox is even more special — this year is her zodiac birth year, which is supposed to be full of hardship, but those struggles may reveal themselves as opportunities to seize.
Zhen said her mother bought her red underwear for the occasion, as they’re supposed to ward off bad luck. “I just thought it was a really cute gesture of her to do that,” Zhen said. “It kind of reminds me that there are definitely superstitions and traditions that are Chinese that I unknowingly and willingly abide by.”
When Zhen was younger and attended Chinese school, her family celebrated Lunar New Year at her school’s annual new year gala. Now, they have more relaxed celebrations and usually eat dinner together.
Zhen only spent this new year with her parents and boyfriend, so in the future, she wants to be part of a larger celebration.
“Next year, I’m definitely hoping to get together with even some of my friends who haven’t had a traditional Lunar New Year dinner,” Zhen said. “To kind of do something with them, to give them that exposure of what are the traditional foods that we eat … and then really get to indulge in that.”
For Do, he’s looking forward to getting to see all his extended family again at next year’s celebration.
“This year was … just not as lively,” Do said. “Next year, I look forward to seeing all my cousins … the Lunar New Year definitely connects me with my family.”
Featured image: A spread of cultural food is set out to eat for Lunar New Year. Photo courtesy of Lily Li