The Korean Parents Association (KPA) of Tenafly recently sponsored the first annual Asian New Year Celebration.
The district, which was closed Feb. 7 in honor of Asian New Year, offered the middle school as a host site for the event.
"For the first time, Tenafly has the privilege to celebrate Asian New Year as a town-wide event," KPA President Julie Han said. "The KPA wanted to use this opportunity to show all the children in the district — both of Korean heritage and non-Korean heritage — about the rich tradition behind the Asian New Year."
Festivities at the event included Korean dance and musical performances, a traditional Asian fashion show modeled by Tenafly students, Asian games and cultural stations and a food court including traditional Korean foods prepared and served by district parents.
According to Han, the Asian New Year is the most celebrated holiday in parts of Asia such as China and Korea. Massive populations move around the countries to unite with their extended families in order to celebrate together and strengthen family ties. Asians take the time during the holiday to instill core values such as family unity, honoring elders and the blessing of children.
One of the most important rituals performed occurs when the children bow to their parents and grandparents, and their elders offer words of advice, blessings and monetary gifts. The children discover their roots by listening to the elders’ stories, Han said.
During the recent celebration, hundreds of children and adults experienced the Asian culture first-hand by visiting numerous stations including games, arts and foods.
"I was surprised how hard it was to learn to kneel and bow," fourth-grader Noah Rosenberg said. "It was great having the day off from school to learn all about the Asian New Year."
"In the Korean culture, bowing to your elders on the first day of the New Year is a sign of respect," THS freshman Joseph Rhee explained. "The elders give you advice on how to live a better life and how make improvements within yourself."
According to Han, many children of Korean heritage in the United States do not really follow the ancient Korean rituals of celebrating the New Year, nor is the larger community aware of the richness of the Asian tradition, which can enhance their life as well.
"The KPA’s goal was to share the meaning behind many of the Asian Lunar New Year rituals with the Tenafly community," Han said. "At the food court, for example, we are serving a traditional meal called D’duk-Guk, a thinly sliced rice cake soup, for which the belief is that we gain one year to our life for each bowl we eat."
According to TMS seventh-grader Allyson Schiller, the event was awesome.
"Learning about the Asian culture was just amazing," said Schiller. "I especially enjoyed visiting all the different cultural booths and food stations and learning the meaning behind everything."
