Celebrating the year of the snake

Kamishka Grover and Julia Rosol cut out year of the snake activities.

BY CAITLIN LAFLOWER
On January 30, the National Chinese Honor Society hosted the annual Chinese New Year Celebration to commemorate the beginning of a new year on the lunisolar calendar. The free event, hosted in the cafeteria, included delicious food, fun games, and great performances by students and members of the Old Bridge community.

Attendees enjoyed catered food from Shanghai Bun, a restaurant in Matawan, and homemade dishes from students and Mandarin Chinese teacher Shanman Liao, who made dumplings. Students remarked positively on the orange beef, fried rice, spring rolls, spicy noodles, and tofu with vegetables served. “The catered food was so delicious,” exclaimed Ashley Photis. “My favorites were the orange beef and green beans.”

Min Chen offers Noah Rotkowitz lychee jelly alongside his dinner.

Students and their families took advantage of the fun activities available, such as playing with Chinese yo-yos, spinning ribbons, playing a chop stick game with beans, using lion puppets, and learning how to make dumplings. “One of my favorite games was the Chinese yo-yo,” shared Mitarth Shah. “There are two handles which you use to throw it and do tricks with.”

The night’s performances kicked off with a Lion Dance performed by Monika Janczuk and Keilani Warn in the yellow lion and Kerri Domena and Raphael Capangpangan in the red lion. The ceremonial Lion Dance depicted the lions as symbols of health and their battle against each other to earn lettuce, representing prosperity in the new year. “It was fun pretending to be a lion and performing in front of everyone,” said Janczuk.

Ashley Photis helps Jordyn Palmer and Neo Mohapeloa learn how to stuff and close dumplings.

Dr. Yingchao Zhang, a scientist and AI researcher who spends his free time performing Chinese rock, lit up the room with his impressive singing, drumming, harmonica playing, guitar strumming, and piano skill. “His melodies were beautiful, and they touched my heart,” expressed Isaac Choi. “His rendition of John Lennon’s ’Imagine’ was captivating.”

Yana Burdinskaya sang the song “月亮代表我的心”, which translates to “Moon represents my heart,” alongside Dr. Zhang, who played the drum set, harmonica, and guitar. “The audience’s reaction was my favorite part,” said Burdinskaya. “A lot of people stood up and opened the flashlights on their phones.”

Emily Marrero watches Evan Chuah play with a Chinese yo-yo.

Lily Deautono, Evan Chuah, Shaan Dugal, and Kerri Domena performed “Jasmine Flower” as a quartet, with Deautono on bass guitar, Chuah on clarinet, Dugal on alto saxophone, and Domena on flute. “We had a lot of fun practicing together and performing for everyone,” said Domena.

The event concluded with level four and AP Mandarin Chinese students singing the song “歌声与微笑”, which translates to “Song with a Smile” in English. Students rehearsed for about a month before the event. “We practiced our song a lot in class to the point where it was stuck in our head, so it was really satisfying to finally perform,” shared Juliet Matara. “Also, Keilani’s splits at the end were really fun!”

Lily D’Antuono twirls a ribbon.
Shanman Liao poses proudly with the dumplings she made.
Kerri Domena and Monika Janczuk unravel Chinese New Year banners while in their lion costumes.
Czarina Jae Benez and Kathleen Dellegrazie test out the dragon puppets.