Persian New Year Celebrations Begin

*This post was from last year. We updated the time of Norouz – it starts at 3:45pm (Vancouver time) today.*

Norouz نوروز, the Persian New Year, takes place at 3:45pm today. The Persian New Year begins in tandem with the Spring Equinox, and the customs associated with Norouz also relate very closely with nature and the hopefulness that the beginning of Spring embodies. Many people outside of Iran, particularly residents of surrounding regions such as Afghanistan, also celebrate this holiday. The most significant symbol of Norouz, which has its origins in Zoroastarian traditions, is the haft-seen هفت‌سین table spread. The haft-seen traditionally includes seven (haft) edible items that start with “seen” (س ) an “S” sounding alphabet.  Each household normally creates a decorative haft-seen and this is left up throughout the New Year season, which lasts for 13 days.   Continue reading

Maclean’s March 2014: Newcomers to Canada

by Patti Ryan

Canada wants immigrants – and people from around the world want to live here. What do newcomers and Canada have to offer each other?

When people ask Alden E. Habacon why cultural diversity works in Canada in ways it doesn’t elsewhere, he has a lot to say. But it all simmers down to: “Because
it’s always been here.”

Link to full PDF: Newcomers to Canada for Maclean’s March 2014

Photo courtesy: Martin Dee

Colorblind Notion Aside, Colleges Grapple With Racial Tension

By  

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A brochure for the University of Michigan features a vision of multicultural harmony, with a group of students from different racial backgrounds sitting on a verdant lawn, smiling and conversing.

The scene at the undergraduate library one night last week was quite different, as hundreds of students and faculty members gathered for a 12-hour “speak out” to address racial tensions brought to the fore by a party that had been planned for November and then canceled amid protests. The fraternity hosting the party, whose members are mostly Asian and white, had invited “rappers, twerkers, gangsters” and others “back to da hood again.”

For full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/us/colorblind-notion-aside-colleges-grapple-with-racial-tension.html?_r=0

Celebrating Lunar New Year with Foods From Different Cultures

yu sheng ingredients 2

Every year, Lunar New Year is celebrated around the globe with great fanfare: lion dances, red packets stuffed with money, and of course, 10-course banquets comprising dishes made with exquisite ingredients and brimming with symbolism–foods that are homonyms or look-alikes for gold bars, prosperity, family unity, fertility, good fortune, etc. This year, Lunar New Year falls on January 31st–it’s the year of the Horse!– and families will gather from far and wide over the next two weeks to eat dishes from long-life noodles to whole fish and fried egg rolls. Continue reading

UBC50K | One Dollar x Fifty Thousand Students

Updates:

Click here to see Ethan, a kindergartner, lead by example!

– We were featured in The UBYSSEY! http://ubyssey.ca/news/ubc-dollar-relief-235/

For those who cannot find us, you can donate online here!

– UBC50K is now collaborating with Science Undergraduate Society who are holding a fundraising coffee house event on November 26th. Be sure to check them out!

On behalf of UBC Dollar Project and UBC Filipino Student Association, we would like to welcome you to UBC50K! Our mission is to raise a minimum of $50,000 to support those affected by the super typhoon Haiyan.

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How to make your own UBC50K donation kit!

Link

Please supplement your donation kit with our poster

Version 1: CLICK HERE TO ACCESS AND DOWNLOAD A PRINTABLE POSTER
Version 2: CLICK HERE TO ACCESS AND DOWNLOAD A PRINTABLE POSTER

(After registration you will receive a registration number. Label your containers with this number. You can start fundraising right away.)

You can use almost any type of container for your collection kit!

Below are two examples using two different types of plastic containers.

Part 1: Containers with lids

   (Materials: container, print out of the red cross, scissors/box cutter, tape, marker)

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