Vietnamese culture to be highlighted

Abby Taylor

Staff Writer

The Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) will be holding a Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration for students and faculty on Friday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. in the Trojan Center Ballrooms.

“If you want to try something different from what you see daily around campus and you want to see something cultural, then come,” said Tra Vu, a junior marketing major from Hanoi, Vietnam, and the president of the VSA.

The celebration was held last year, and Vu said that there are some changes and surprises coming this year.

“We ordered the food from two different restaurants in Montgomery from Vietnamese owners,” Vu said.

Vu said that the committee for the celebration held auditions for this year’s performances.

“We have singing, we have piano, we have poem reciting,” Vu said. “We picked the best performers to put in the show.”

Vu said that she received positive feedback last year and she hopes there will be good feedback this year.

“The feedback from the audience was good,” Vu said. “They (students and faculty) loved the food, performances and line dancing.”

Vu said that the Lunar New Year celebration is the equivalent of Christmas for Americans.

“For international students who cannot go back to Vietnam to celebrate this special occasion with our families, I want to celebrate with them to give them a sense of belonging so they don’t feel lonely,” Vu said.

The VSA received help from ISCO, the international office and Dean of Students Herbert Reeves, who helped with purchasing food for the event. The event was also moved to TC for more space.

“We moved to the TC Ballroom, which is bigger than the BCM (Baptist Campus Ministries), so that’s one thing we did this year,” Vu said.

This year there will be Vietnamese performers and non-Vietnamese performers. There will not be line dancing, but Vu said that there will be something different for the audience to see.

Liz Nowling, a junior anthropology major from Ashford, is involved with international students on campus and leads an international small group.

“I am excited for this event because I know many of my international friends miss home, and this will be an exciting time for them to bond with people from other nations,” Nowling said.

Nowling said that the celebration will be good for those who can’t go home.

“I think it will be nice for people who miss their families,” Nowling said. “I would encourage non-Vietnamese students to go to experience their culture and learn from the celebration.”

Vu said that she hopes students and faculty will come and enjoy the performances.

“I hope the reaction from the audience is good because good food, good performances,” Vu said. “The only thing we need to do now is make sure the show goes smoothly from one performance to another.”

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