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Goshen College

Happy Lunar New Year!

February 11, 2024

This week we were privileged to see several new sides of Indonesian culture.  Last Monday was opening day of the new semester of classes at the university in which we study (UKDW, here in Yogyakarta).  We were invited to the opening day ceremony, which included a celebration of the Lunar New Year.  And wow, was it something!

Opening day ceremony for UKDW also celebrated the Lunar New Year

The dance was spectacular and included acrobatic lions that danced about on four legs and reared up on the hind two, lots of red envelopes fed into the lions’ mouths, and incredible percussionists keeping the rhythm.

The Lunar New Year is celebrated in many Asian cultures, and public celebrations of it have been permitted in Indonesia since the year 2000.  I was amazed to find a number of Lunar New Year celebrations around the city this week: in malls, on Malioboro Street, and in other public spaces.  The celebrations that we observed were attended by people of many different ethnicities, a sign of how Indonesia is working to embrace its diversity (and a testament to how many Indonesians love a good celebration!).

The banner reads “Gong xi fa cai!” Happy Lunar New Year!
The dance begins.
The “lion” on his hind two legs.
We each fed the lion a red envelope with some money inside, to bring us good luck in the coming year.
The bravest soul still quakes a bit before the lion’s fierce gaze.
Taking a bow at the end. They earned it!

We had other cultural experiences this week; be watching for our next post!