HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!
Last semester I went to both the Chinese and Japanese Culture festivals which were in early October and Mid November (unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go to the Korean Culture Festival which was in December). Many people would think that Festivals represent food and buying stuff; when, in reality, it is much more than that.
In the Japanese Festival (Nihon Matsuri), I was a part-time volunteer -since it was actually last minute and I wasn’t a part of the Japanese Class/ Club-. Even if I was cleaning the place where the festival took place, and ended up running between breaks and what not to see some of the activities in the actual festival, I had a blast. I actually got the nickname “Curry Girl” because I was mostly just helping out in the kitchen with the Curry Rice.
The Chinese Festival (This is China) was completely different. One reason being that this festival was at night. I had to practice singing and dancing weeks before the festival since it was my first semester taking Mandarin and I had to work really hard with my pronunciation. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t have fun in that festival either. I had a blast! I had this huge grin on my face when my friends tried to pronounce some of the words in Mandarin and, when they actually got it right, they would applaud themselves. Sadly, I couldn’t take that many pictures during the culture festival since I was running back and forth between last-minute practices and looking for my friends.
In both festivals, I got out really tired and it was because of all the running I did during them. To be honest, I think I was so excited and happy to be in both, that I didn’t feel tired at all until I got home. When people think of culture festivals, they think of food and the activities and whatnot; but when I think of festivals, I think of getting to spend time with friends, having fun learning about a certain culture and trying new things which I’m glad I got to do with both.
If you ever get the chance to go to a festival such as these two, I highly recommend that you do. Going to one is an amazing experience; you’ll have a lot of fun. Everyone behind the festivals put a lot of effort every year just to make it happen and for it to be amazing for those who go.