On the week of January 27th, 2025, red lanterns lined the arches of the terrace, adding a festive splash of color to mark the start of another Lunar New Year celebration at Bishop’s. Throughout the week, students got to experience traditions from different Asian countries, with each day highlighting unique aspects of the holiday.
Beginning from the Vietnamese New Year, or Tet, followed by the Thai holiday Songkran, the Korean Seollal, and finally Friday’s Chinese New Year, the celebrations, organized by the East Asian Student Association (EASA), gave those at Bishop’s a glimpse into cultures familiar to some and new to others.
Monday
A week of Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, and Chinese lunchtime activities kicked off with an opening celebration on Monday, January 27th. The highlight of Monday was a food sampling table, which consisted of a variety of traditional asian foods including mango sticky rice, kimbap (a korean dish made from cooked rice, vegetables, fish, and meat rolled in seaweed), dumplings, spring rolls, and a spicy cucumber salad.
Millie Gan (‘26) explained that her favorite food sample was the mango sticky rice. “It went well with a lot of the other foods, and balanced out the salty and spicy flavors,” she said.
EASA leader Audrey Lin (‘25) explained, “A lot of lunar new year is done by the parent volunteers, which we’re very thankful for.” EASA started brainstorming for Lunar New Year celebrations back in the beginning of December, and they initially divided into smaller planning committees where they worked on organizing the performances and activities. Once initial activities are planned out, they start communicating with parent volunteers. “Last year, we already worked with some of the parent volunteers, specifically Miss Jian Chan (mom of alumni Sydney Chan (‘24) and Alexa Chan (‘30)) who’s the head that we communicate with, and she’ll communicate more with the parent leaders,” EASA Leader Carley Chen (‘25) explained.
Students were also encouraged to wear red, which represents good luck, happiness, and prosperity for the new year. During Lunar New Year, celebrating families decorate their houses with red embellishments and gift red envelopes, or hongbao, to bring in luck.
Tuesday
Tuesday, January 28th, was dedicated to celebrating the Vietnamese Lunar New Year — Tết. The cafeteria prepared Bánh mì sandwiches, a traditional Vietnamese staple, as well as a Vietnamese Three Color Dessert (Che Ba Mau). This dessert consisted of one layer of red beans, another layer of mung beans, and a final layer of green pandan jelly topped with coconut sauce.
Instead of going to their usual lunch spots, students quickly filled the terrace, and anticipation hung in the air as student performers prepared backstage. The student performances consisted of musical instruments — piano, violin, flute, — a poetry recitation, dance, and the chinese yoyo.
Many of the students’ performances involved instruments. Sophomores Eric Feng and Steven W performed the song “Chengdu.” “Chengdu” is a love ballad about longing and memories tied to the city of Chengdu, Sichuan. It contains vivid imagery of Chengdu’s streets and atmosphere, and the song evokes feelings of homecoming — a sentiment that resonates strongly during the Lunar New Year when many people return to their hometowns to reunite with family.
Kailin Xuan (‘26) performed “The Cowherd’s Flute” on the piano, which contains themes of nature, rural life, and simplicity, and connects with traditional Chinese values celebrated during the holiday.
Freshmen Alisa Timmerman and Tracie Liu performed “Butterfly Lovers” with Tracie on the violin and Alisa on the flute.
“Alisa and I are part of EASA and when they told us about student performances for the Lunar New Year Festival we immediately knew we wanted to perform a duet together. We are both quite invested in music and have played a duet together before,” Tracie explained.
Wanting to share their passion in a meaningful way, they saw this day as the perfect opportunity to bring traditional Chinese music to the Bishop’s community. “After some online searching, we decided to play an arrangement of “Butterfly Lovers,” which is one of the most well-known and acclaimed Chinese pieces of all time. We were really excited to play such a beautiful and famous piece for others to enjoy,” Tracie added.
This year, three students performed traditional Chinese dances. Lily Qin (‘28) performed “Rong Hua,” Ellen Wang (‘25) performed “Phoenix Awakening,” and Ella Xing (‘26) performed “Eternal Flame.” Ella explained that “Eternal Flame” is a Chinese folkloric dance inspired by the rich traditions of the Kazakh people, an ethnic group in Asia. “The performance reflects the deep connection the Kazakh culture has with nature, particularly the warmth and energy of fire, which symbolizes strength, vitality, and renewal in their heritage,” Ella said.
There were also incredible performances during middle school lunch, including Leia Park (’30) who demonstrated a Taekwondo form called Poomsae, and Isabelle Qiao (’29) who performed a dance titled “Echoes of Youth.”
“My favorite part of Tuesday’s celebration was performing and watching other performances. There was such a big audience that day and everyone was so supportive. [The performances] were all very impressive and spotlighted the traditions of Asian culture,” Tracie said.
Wednesday
Wednesday was the day of Songkran, the Thai Lunar New Year. As lunch began, a line of students snaked across the terrace, patiently waiting for an orange tea, referred to as cha-yen in Thai. While waiting, a table, run by three parent volunteers, displayed unique Thai prizes like rare flavors of chips and colorful t-shirts, luring in students to join the raffle.
Thursday
On Thursday, students gathered to celebrate Seollal, the Korean Lunar New Year, with a vibrant mix of food, culture, and traditional games. Before waiting in the lunch line for Korean beef bowls made by the Bishop’s kitchen, students first passed through two booths on the terrace manned by parent volunteers. Volunteers from the first booth handed out popular Korean snacks, while at the second, two Korean mothers created custom bookmarks featuring their names written in Hangul, the Korean alphabet.
Beyond the food, the celebration included a variety of traditional Korean games.
Friday
On Friday, January 31st, Bishop’s was immersed in the vibrant sights, sounds, and flavors of Chinese New Year. Parent volunteers prepared refreshing yogurt drinks, peach tea, and grapefruit tea during both middle and upper school lunch.
Meanwhile, a professional Chinese lion dance troupe performed on the terrace to the beat of the drums and the clashing of cymbals. Near the end of their performance, the lions danced around the terrace and inside the cafeteria, collecting red envelopes in which students had written their New Year wishes. Angela An (‘27) said, “Feeding the lion a red envelope is one of my favorite activities that we have during the week because it’s an exciting and simple way that people can participate in the traditions of Lunar New Year.”
As the weeklong festivities came to an end, students left with a lasting impression on the various ways to begin the new year. Audrey explained, “I think a lot of people sometimes might think of Lunar New Year as just Chinese New Year and don’t get to see that so many other different cultures and countries celebrate as well. ” 
Because each day is dedicated to honor a specific country, she felt that people were able to view all sorts of traditions from different backgrounds; this event also served to reshape their previous opinions on what lunar new year looked like.
“I think the fact that we can have [Lunar New Year celebrations] on campus and have it be such a big thing is really special and very lucky for us.” Carley reflected.
