Chinese
Society returns to CSULB
By Yi-Fang Vicky Lin and Yoshinori Okada
On-line Forty-Niner
The
Chinese Society at Cal State Long Beach
has finally reunited again this fall for
the first time since 1992. The welcome party
was held Friday with about 100 students
attending.
The organization is mainly ran by Taiwanese
students, and was initiated by Robert Chi,
a professor of the information systems department.
According to Pei-Ying Huang, the president
of Chines Society, the main goal and purpose
of this organization is to recruit all students
on campus, who are not only with the Chinese
backgrounds, but also to anyone who is interested
in the Chinese culture.
Huang said he realized the importance of
cultural exchange mainly because of his
multi-culture background. He is a Taiwanese
student, who was raised in Ecuador and is
receiving his American education at CSULB.
According to Huang, with the experiences
of being a foreign student in these countries,
he has a sense of obligation to contribute
himself to the organization, and help others
sharing the same experiences here in the
United States.
“I know what kind of difficulties a foreign
student may encounter,” Huang said. “Throughout
this organization, we can help students
on their housing, school and anything an
international student may come across during
their studies here. We also want to share
the Chinese culture with American students,
not only Americans, but people from Europe,
Asia. Anyone from anywhere is welcomed to
the organization.”
Faces of other countries were found at Friday’s
gathering including American, Austrian,
Vietnamese, Malaysian and Japanese.
“I think a lot of people are fascinated
by the Chines culture,” said Mehradad Haghighi,
a junior international business major from
Austria. “A lot of Americans watch Chinese
movies such as Jackie Chan movies, but there
is so much more to the culture, and the
only way to get to know it, is to get to
know the people.”
Ilana Hecht, an American student from Ohio,
who studies Japanese at CSULB, said she
has always been interested in different
cultures. One of the big advantages for
her being in California is to have the opportunities
to meet the diversity of people and cultures.
“I think ultimately all cultures are going
to mix together, just mixed of everything,
and here in California, you definitely begin
to experience that,” Haghighi said. He believes
the discovery of different cultures is a
beautiful thing in life.
A Japanese student Tomoya Yoshimura, a sophomore
film major, also found satisfaction in the
event.
“Everyone
in the association is friendly, and I enjoyed
the cultural sharing throughout the event,”
he said.
What follows shortly after the reunion is
the Chinese Moon Festival scheduled on Sept.
20, at the Colorado Lagoon at Fourth Street
and Park. The festival, derived from peasants’
custom using the lunar calendar for agricultural
purposes under Tang is one of the biggest
holidays for celebrating the harvest moon
with family, according to Pao-Pei Hua, activity
coordinator of the society.
The festival always goes with a moon cake,
the most symbolical food for the festival
that played an important role in the establishment
of the Ming dynasty, according to Hua. Beginning
with a brief welcoming session followed
by a big Asian-style barbecue feast. Please
contact Chinese Society if you have questions
regarding the event.
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