COLMAR- To ring in the 4710th year of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, North Penn High School’s Chinese Cultural Club held its annual dinner at Golden City Restaurant on Friday, February 3.
January 23, 2012 marked the beginning of the Chinese New Year, the year of the Dragon. As one of the most important holidays in Chinese tradition, people often take weeks off from work beginning on January 1 to welcome the New Year.
In China, celebrations include the giving gifts, dining together, decorating , wearing traditional clothing, and cleaning the home as to ensure that the misfortune of the previous year has been washed away, leaving room for the good fortune of the year to come.
At Golden City Restaurant, all were welcome to join in the New Year’s festivities that combined traditional Chinese food and décor with the modern addition of karaoke, introduced to the annual dinner last year. Over thirty North Penn students, teachers, and alumni tasted ten different dishes for a cost of $20.
The menu included egg drop soup, sesame chicken with mashed shrimp, egg rolls, seafood in a taro nest, vegetables and tofu, sizzling steak with broccoli, deep fried fish in a sweet and sour sauce, House Special fried rice, chicken lo mein, and sesame seed balls and cookies for dessert.
After belts were loosened a notch or two and fortunes were determined by those legendary cookies, brave souls ventured to center stage for some rousing karaoke. Old favorites by the Backstreet Boys and N’Sync received applause from the audience, and even North Penn’s own Mr. Dave Kim performed his rendition of “Johnny B. Good.”
While Chinese Cultural Club advisor Mrs. Janet Kratz shied away from belting out a tune, she believed the evening to be a great success. According to Kratz, the Chinese Cultural Club has hosted a dinner around the Chinese New Year for as long as she can remember, even before she became the advisor to the club fifteen years ago.
After 4 hours of eating, dancing, singing, catching up with old friends and meeting new ones, everyone in attendance seemed to leave full and happy.
“This is the first year I’ve come, so I’m glad it worked out really nicely. I’m glad everyone’s having fun!” said Jennie Ju, President of the Chinese Cultural Club.
If you missed out on the dinner this year, you can rest assured that the Chinese Cultural Club will hold another one next year close to the New Year’s date of February 10, 2013.