Ringing in the Year of the Pig

The Year of the Pig was ushered in at Eaglebrook in style. The Lunar New Year dinner, held on February 6, was complete with great food, beautiful decorations, and a lion dance, put on by the Worcester Youth Nian Dancers. At the end of the impressive performance, the yellow Lion “ate” a red envelope for good luck. Watch an excerpt from the lion dance here.

 

The décor in Gibbs Dining Hall reflected hopes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year. Bamboo centerpieces on each table symbolize growth and reaching for more, the kumquats are for good luck, the cherry blossoms symbolize spring, and lions and dragons are lucky and symbolic animals. At the end of the fantastic and filling meal, the faculty table heads passed out red envelopes to each student at the table and gave them their good wishes for the new year. These envelopes are traditionally filled with money, but the Eaglebrook students got chocolate coins, and they were much appreciated.

 

Yuan-Hsiu Lien, one of Eaglebrook’s Chinese teachers, reflected on the event saying that it, “brought not only a very important cultural event from a different part of the world to campus that helps to widen our students’ world view, but it also brought a very joyful and warm family atmosphere to the dining hall. It was a great event to bring the community together to share something that is important and about humanity. It was a celebration and celebrations are the same all over the world.” See photos from the Lunar New Year dinner here. Kung Hei Fat Choy!