Lunar New Year at Milton

Image courtesy of Milton Academy

By SNEHA JAISWAL ‘22

Weeks of Asian Society’s excitement and preparation culminated in Milton’s Lunar New Year celebration on Thursday, January 30th. One of the most important cultural holidays in East Asia, Lunar New Year centers around spending time with family and friends, relaxing, and encouraging good luck for the new year. Since the holiday typically falls after winter break, Milton Academy has a tradition—at least twenty-five years old, according to Vivian WuWong—of hosting a Lunar New Year event for Asian and Asian-American boarders who might not be able to celebrate at home with family. 

Though New Year traditions can vary from student to student, all celebrations center around family and friends. Ms. WuWong, faculty advisor for Asian Society, celebrates the holiday more as an adult because she wants to maintain her culture with her children. Her family closes out the year by eating dinner together, along with cleaning the house, getting hair cuts, and tying up loose ends to start the next year afresh. While Evelyn Cao ‘22 and her family don’t observe the same customs, Lunar New Year is an opportunity to spend time with friends and visit grandparents. Similarly, Kirsten Ting ‘22 created her own tradition of hosting a hot pot party for family and friends.

The second common thread is food. Emily Hong ‘21, who would typically celebrate Lunar New Year with a family dinner at home, spent the holiday weekend at Milton with friends, going out for Korean barbeque because she finds good Asian food central to celebrating the New Year. For her family’s New Years dinner, Ms. WuWong’s husband cooks traditional dishes like noodles, chicken, and fish for long life and prosperity, as well as sticky rice and dumplings to represent good luck. Tara O’Malley ‘20, whose family also cooks traditional dishes and makes dumplings from scratch, finds the traditional dishes important, adding that “eating dinner together brings people together.” The food’s significance comes from the tradition of unified community.

Milton’s Lunar New Year celebration involves both eating delicious food and spending time with friends. After sleeping in until nine, students check in at Hathaway, then play games, watch movies, and relax; according to Ms. WuWong, relaxing on New Year’s shows that one worked hard enough during the rest of the year to take the day off. After, everyone learns to make dumplings from scratch and eats lunch together. Milton’s Lunar New Year allows students unable to celebrate at home to continue their traditions and also demonstrates that the school “acknowledges [their] culture,” according to Kirsten. Emily feels that Milton’s celebration embodies how being happy on the first day of the year “sets the precedent for the rest of the year to also be happy.” 

Since the tradition started, Milton’s Lunar New Year has evolved from a lock-in at the top of Ware to a day of celebrating in Hathaway, according to Ms. WuWong. However, this year, Asian Society also hosted the documentary My Life in China in Straus. A few years ago, Suzanne DeBuhr’s request for Asian Society to host a Chapel service—that shared Lunar New Year with the wider community—reminded Ms. WuWong of Asian Society’s responsibility to educate the rest of the school on Asian culture. When the Chapel program changed, she wanted to continue that “twofold work” of educating while maintaining the day-off as an internal event for the community. Ms. WuWong decided to show My Life in China, which follows an Asian-American man travelling to China to understand his cultural background, because she thought films were very accessible, even to students outside of Asian Society. Director Ken Eng joined the showing and responded to questions about his film. 

Some students proposed further additions to the Lunar New Year program. Evelyn feels that Milton should give the whole school the day for Lunar New Year, like holidays for other cultural groups, especially because some students who celebrate Lunar New Year at home choose to attend class instead of the event. Emily seconds that sentiment, believing that having the day off would make the lack of classes a “norm,” rather than a “burden” to teachers when students miss class to attend something else. However, others prefer the current system, since a full day off would require Asian Society to celebrate as a community in a different way. 

The Lunar New Year program at Milton may continue to adapt; according to Evelyn, a combination of the “intent to celebrate and uphold their culture” and the “students’ choices to go” drives the tradition.