“Happy New Year!” Lunar New Year is a celebration of the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year on the lunar solar calendar. Now, let’s see what the people at Cypress say about the Lunar New Year. 

Ms. Vu, a math teacher at Cypress High, tells us how she celebrated her Lunar New Year. On this day, she usually goes to church where they hold a lion dance and receive “good luck money,”  which shows honor to the elders. When she gets home from church, she has dinner with her family, and soon after that, they say their good luck wishes for the new year. Typically, you would have to grant your wishes to the elders, such as mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles. When you grant the wish, the elders would give back a red envelope filled with money which is called “lì xì” in Vietnamese. After granting wishes, they play a fun little game with dice and pictures involved, and betting a little bit of money. Some foods she typically celebrates which are “bánh trưng” “bánh tét” “đưa món”;these are some of the traditional foods she eats during Lunar New Year. “I think its cool that we live here and that we get to do both. You know, we have the American New Year, and as soon as it its 9:00 P.M. we got to sleep, so I think its cool that we can do both,” says Ms.Vu. 

Traci Nguyen, a current sophomore in Cypress High, celebrated her Lunar New Year as well. This year, she went to the temple with her family. The tradition she celebrates each year is called “áodào”, and eats việt foods such as “thịt kho.” She celebrates January 1st and Lunar New Year, but typically, she doesn’t celebrate January 1st as much as the Lunar New year.

Lunar New Year is a time of wishes and luck; Happy New Year to everyone here at Cypress High!