Students of different backgrounds enjoyed mooncakes.
Photo by Billy Liu
The Chinese Students Association (CSA) hosted a Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration at International House on September 16 at 8:30 p.m. More than 50 people from various countries visited the International House to enjoy the party. The club served several types of mooncakes—traditional Chinese desserts served during Mid-Autumn Festival—and played an ancient board game called Mahjong. The celebration offered all the club members a great chance to meet and mingle, as well as to share the Chinese cultural heritage with other American and international students.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is amongst one of the most important harvest festivals largely celebrated in China, Korea and Vietnam. On every eighth full moon of the year, or August 15 on the lunar calendar, they celebrate the end of harvest seasons, appreciate the beautiful full moon at night and reunite with family members and relatives. As this September 15 was the corresponding date for this holiday, the board members of CSA decided to host the festival the day after it.
During the event, Chinese students away from their home country gathered together with other international students to celebrate this cultural holiday.
“When people see the moon, it reminds them of their family members,” said junior and CSA secretary Moon Wang. “Especially for us, we’re studying abroad so it is very special to think about our family members. Since I was a child, I loved this festival because it’s time for whole family members to gather together and share our love.” Wang also commented that she was happy to meet new friends and get to know each other through this opportunity.
“We’re already back to campus so we can’t celebrate with other family,” said sophomore and Vice President of CSA, Alice Huang. “Instead, it is a chance for Chinese students to see other people and feel comfortable. It’s also a chance for both American and international students to see people from other countries and try the traditional mooncakes.”
During the celebration, all students were teeming with excitement and liveliness for celebrating this traditional harvest holiday together. The students would form a group of four or five over the International House and enjoy various types of traditional activities, including eating sweet Chinese candies and mooncakes and playing mahjong together. One of the students deeply engrossed in winning the board game, Kathy Yan Li, as president of CSA, expressed her affection for this festival in line with other students. “There are so many people at the festival and it is so much more than we expected. I’m glad that we made it as an open house event and we will do more open houses later in the term.”
In the near future, CSA is planning to host more festivals and events such as Lunar New Year Festival, a tea party and winter pot party for all students from different backgrounds as well as for Chinese students. By cooperating with other clubs, CSA also hopes to build a close–knit relationship with other campus organizations and carry out more multicultural activities and events.