Par-tay, the Chinese New Year Way

Recently the Chinese New Year came along--and subsequently passed right by we hard working music department penn staters.

Our Taiwanese members could not allow such an occasion to miss us, and so tonight--though this semester is determined to remind me that I am humanly capable of only so much, and though the last Thursday night of the month is one of the only nights I actually have to go home and drown on my couch and/or take care of my life--I fluffed my hair, painted my face, and gathered together with my friends and colleagues in a sea of red clothing and/or accessories.

We did some good eatin'

(oh how those tawainese girls can cook...).

We made our own dumplings

(oh how folding dumplings I can not...).

We played some traditional games, like writing a resolution and putting it in a basket for someone else to guess the owner. If you get guessed, you have to hula-hoop 3 times in a row. This year I played it safe: "I will learn to play the guitar". (Last year I said "I will not be so cranky" and got guessed right away.) There was no hula-hooping in my fortune for tonight, I am happy to report, though certain people tried to peg "I will find a man I can be happy with" and "I will not work so hard" on me. (I am finally learning to keep things simple, a strategy I'm liking more and more, particularly when it gets me out of hula-hooping...)

We gambled a bit.
We guessed riddles, and received lottery cards if we got the answers right.

(I got my answer right, but sadly my lottery card was faulty. There will be no trip to someplace exotic and/or a brand new wardrobe for me this year...)

We made signs that said "Spring" on them, to hang on our doors and to wish winter-be-gone with (I made 12 of them....)

And, when all was said and done:

The question one must ask oneself when one is tired and not feeling all that social is, how do you say no to such precious friends when they want to celebrate their heritage with you? And the answer is--you don't. You par-tay, the Chinese New Year way. And you have great fun while you're at it!