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BY MELISSA PHRUKSACHART

In print | Published January 29, 2004

Over 1,100 students checked their mailboxes last week to find small red envelopes inside. The majority of them probably thought, “What’s with the weird candy?” But the more enlightened Swatties realized the only thing to say at a time like this was “Kung hei fat choy!”

Sent by the Swarthmore Asian Organization, the envelopes marked the Lunar New Year in celebration of the Year of the Monkey.

Traditionally, married elders give red envelopes stuffed with money to younger, unmarried family members. When presented, the envelopes and money are meant to draw good luck and fortune.

“Bachelors who don’t get married, even when they’re 40, are unpopular with children during Chinese New Year because they never pay up,” said David Zee ’07, SAO board member and international student from Hong Kong.

Students at Swarthmore have found their own way to celebrate the holiday away from home. SAO began the festivities by mailing out the envelopes. Inside were a small piece of candy and an invitation to SAO’s Lunar New Year study break.

The study break, open to all students, featured Chinese games traditionally played at the New Year. Traditional snacks like dried fruit, New Year candy, melon seeds, peanuts, shrimp chips and New Year rice cakes were served with jasmine and chrysanthemum teas.

Sharples was decorated that evening, as well. A large “Happy Lunar New Year” sign was hung, Chinese zodiac placemats were set on tables, Chinese candies replaced the peppermints at the top of Sharples, and traditional Chinese New Year music was piped throughout the dining hall.

“I especially liked the placemats,” said Maggie Elwell ’07. “I tried to figure out what my animal was.”

The placemats assigned an animal to a cycle of seven years, attributing certain personality traits to those born in the years attached to the animal. Those born in the Year of the Monkey are “clever, skillful and flexible … remarkably inventive and original and can solve the most difficult problems with ease,” according to the zodiac on the Chinese Cultural Center of San Francisco’s Web site (www.c-c-c.org).

Unfortunately, the traditional firecrackers were missing. Candice Cherk ‘07 found her fill in Philadelphia’s Chinatown. During a recent visit, she watched a mini-parade. “There were lion dances and music that went all around Chinatown,” Cherk said. “[They] stopped by all the shops to spark the firecrackers. The firecrackers bring luck to the shops, so every shop had all different lengths [of firecrackers]. There were some people following this mini-parade and covering their ears each time the firecrackers went off.”

Several Asian cultures celebrate this date as their New Year, among them Tibetan, Korean and Vietnamese, but practices vary from culture to culture.

Cantonese people say, “Kung hei fat choy” to mean “Happy New Year,” according to Zee. "[It] means something like ‘Wish you fortune and prosperity’ … People from China usually say [in Mandarin], ‘Xin nian quai le.’ "

Despite the differences, “the New Year is a time of joy, renewal and celebration,” SAO co-president Wendy Cheung ’06 said.

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