by Jake Kwon ’26
With a lunar new year comes a new zodiac sign, and this year marks the return of the dragon! To celebrate the Lunar New Year, Bellarmine’s Korean Student Association, Chinese Culture Community, Vietnamese Student Association, and Taiwanese Student Union, came together last February to host a large potluck event with other catholic schools in the area, including Archbishop Mitty, Notre Dame, St. Francis, and Presentation.
Throughout the event, students and guests were able to socialize and learn about the culture of other countries’ music and language. Bell students and students from other schools alike all pitched in, bringing games, decorations, and most importantly, unique cultural food to guests.
The event saw the return of old classics and new activities as opposed to last year’s event, with a much wider range of foods and traditional games, from the pandan waffle station to egg rolls, and tug-of-war to jegi-chagi. But while there were some changes made , the event fulfilled the long-standing tradition of fostering a multicultural community at Bell, and allowing different groups of people to interact with each other, through much planning, decision-making, organizing, and hosting.
This week, the Bell Online sat down with Austin Hu ‘24 and Joon Han ‘25 about their thoughts on the event, and their hopes for affinity groups in coming weeks.
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Austin Hu ‘24 – Taiwanese Student Union Leader
Q. How do you think that the event turned out in general?
A. Unquestionably, it was a success, in my eyes at least. While I could spend hours debating with the other club leads/moderators about whether or not things went to plan, seeing that we had nearly 200 people turned up to the event and that everyone had fun is more than what we wanted. From seeing the long line of people eager to get food from our multicultural “buffet” (at least that’s what I call it!) to the muddy games of tug of war that got people cheering at the top of their lungs, if that wasn’t enough, I don’t know what is. Of course, throughout the entire event, so much of it was improvised on the spot: Paul Pak ’26 (KSA leader) and I made the last-minute decision to have an MC for the event (kudos to Kyle Nguyen ’24 for stepping up to that role), and even throughout the two-hour span of the social, much of our activities and schedule was changed to fit what the attendees wanted. But that’s the point of a social, isn’t it? We wanted to keep the hype and energy going, so it didn’t really matter if we deviated from our original course–“give the people what they want” is the best thing you could do for a social, and that’s what we did! We did accomplish our goal, which was to have students from other schools meet one another, and to do some fun activities together. After all, learning about Mr. Vu’s hidden talent for playing with shuttlecocks is all I need to say that this event was more than successful.
Q. What changes did you make to the performance between this year and last year?
A. Of course, since this is only the second year we have had a “Lunar New Year Social” sort of event, we initially did base our plans for this year off of last year’s social. Interestingly, and ironically, it’s never really been initiated by the Class of 2024, as last year, the Class of ’23 took charge while this year, there were a lot of Juniors. But being part of the planning of both year’s events has allowed me to see the evolution of this social. Last year, it was more of an organized “pre-dance party” vibe where people would gather indoors in the SLC and play games there (or just sit around and chat if they felt like it). And while that was indeed the plan, not only did school policy surrounding food make us move some of the activities outside, but the social just shifted towards more of a “field day,” and that was really where it succeeded. It was when I saw how people were already having fun with the outdoors activities that I just scrapped any plans to return indoors and just kept the social out of the SLC.
But aside from that, we had a lot more limitations in terms of our resources—while the food stayed the same, the connections we had were a lot more limited. Last year, we had people who arranged for a lion dance group to perform (and they normally charge for performing!) and were able to do a lot more advertising on-campus, with more time to prepare. This year, we basically had to just work with what we had, in terms of time and the people we knew. For me, I just reached out to some of my friends at Mitty and St. Francis and asked them to connect me with their student contacts for their Asian affinity groups. But overall, that actually worked out, and with Mr. Jimenez helping us pass on the information to the DEIB offices of various schools in the San Jose Diocese, we got the word out, and I feel that this was honestly the best we could have done and I’m proud of it.
Q. Why do you think it is important to have events like these?
A. It was started by Francis Nguyen ’23 and it’s basically turning into a tradition, and I hope it continues that way! Not only is it nice to have a cultural celebration for the most important day of the year for many Asian traditions, but it’s also a great place for people to meet others. To be fully honest, I wouldn’t have even gotten my prom date last year if not for the social!
But aside from the impact on the greater San Jose Diocese, I feel that this is a way for Asian affinity groups within Bellarmine to really connect with each other. While Global Village and the Asian-American Heritage Celebration are both excellent cultural celebrations (which you should definitely attend!), you don’t see as much interaction between affinity groups as you see here. You would have the Chinese Culture Community and the Taiwanese Student Union working together to make couplets and the Korean Student Union working with the Vietnamese Student Union to work out food arrangements. It gives us, even if for a brief moment, the feeling as if we are just one big affinity group of people who celebrate Lunar New Year, and that feeling is what really brings unity to the diversity of our cultures.
Q. Do you anticipate a similar event to be held next year as well?
Q. While I’ll be graduating this year – so I won’t have as much control over what next year’s club leaders decide to do – I’m still definitely optimistic. As I said before, we all see this as a tradition, so it’s more than likely that we’ll continue it. Plus, from what I’ve heard from the other schools that take part, they all see this as an annual event as well, so it’s on us to deliver that! But learning from everything that happened in the planning of this year’s event, I won’t be surprised if the social events are completely different from any of the previous years’ events. But hey, if that’s what makes people enjoy it, I say go for it!
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Joon Han ‘25 – Korean Student Association Co-Leader
Q. How do you think that the event turned out in general?
A. All in all, I think the event went really well. A lot of people turned up, and there was a diversity of great food on the table – the highlight of the event. I think a lot of cultures were effectively celebrated and expressed through games and dances.
Q. Were there any significant changes to the event’s structure between this year and last year?
A. We had a lot more people from other schools show up and a lot more planning that went into food and activities. We would hold most of these activities as a group like the tug of war and with the red light green light games, which was slightly different compared to last year.
Q. Why do you feel that it is important to have events like these?
A. People feel welcomed and represented when a big event like this takes place on campus, being proud of their cultural heritage. Events like these help Bellarmine and the schools invited to Bellarmine’s activities feel more included; having diversity is something that should be celebrated. Also, events like these always have great food– which is definitely a plus!
Q. Do you anticipate a similar event being held next year?
A. Of course! As a co-leader of an affinity group, I can speak for all our company that we all hope to have a better event every single year for both newcomers and old-timers, and hope to see everyone there again!
These interviews have been condensed and slightly modified for clarity.
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The annual Lunar New Year celebration here at Bellarmine has been a mainstay for students and staff alike, and it is a great opportunity to meet new people or connect with friends. Either way, it is an event that I, and many others, suggest attending next year, if you have the chance.
Not to mention, if you missed this year’s event – that’s okay. This weekend, Affinity Groups will be hosting the Asian-American Heritage Celebration, where booths will be set up with sign-ups, boards, and more food! There will be martial arts demonstrations, traditional dances, and many other performances at the event, so be sure to check it out! And with Global Village and the Unity Assembly quickly approaching, it is clear that our groups here on campus will definitely be prepared to bring more in the upcoming weeks.
With the celebration of the Lunar New Year now behind us, the Bell Online wishes everyone the best of luck in the new year! Happy Lunar New Year Bells!
Jake Kwon is the Academics Editor for the Bell Online. He enjoys playing soccer with friends and covering events on campus.