Many traditional customs are observed at the beginning of the new year in Japan. For example, entrances to homes and shops are decorated with the pine and bamboo kadomatsu decoration or shimenawa braided straw ropes, a custom with its roots in the Shinto religion. Continue reading
Tet Nguyen Dan, or Tet for short, is considered the biggest and most popular festival of the year in Vietnam. Celebrated on the first day of the first month in Lunar Calendar, Tet’s celebration is the longest holiday which may last up to seven days (with the exception of Tet 2012 when the holiday is expected to last for 9 days!). Vietnamese New Year in 2013 will last from February 10-13, and in 2014 from January 31st to Feb 4th.
Full detail: http://www.vietnamonline.com/tet.html
Seollal, Korea’s favorite holiday, is just around the corner. Koreans usually celebrate two New Years: one on January 1st in accordance with the solar calendar, and the Lunar New Year (called Seollal), which falls this year on February 3rd. Continue reading
Chinese New Year celebrations were born out of fear and myth. Legend spoke of the wild beast Nien (which also is the word for “year”) that appeared at the end of each year, attacking and killing villagers. Loud noises and bright lights were used to scare the beast away, and the Chinese New Year celebrations were born. Continue reading
Members from UBCIA Exec, the Turkish Students Association, the Russian Club, the Pakistani Students Association, the Arab Students Association, the Caribbean African Association, the Tamil Students Association and the Taiwanese Association.
The UBC Intercultural Alliance (UBC IA) is a student run organisation that was founded in September 2013 with the aim of bringing together the cultural clubs across the UBC campus to foster intercultural understanding and promote cross-cultural collaboration.
In November, they held their first event: the Mix and Mingle. Continue reading