Chinese New Year honored by ISA

By James Storbeck.
On Monday and Tuesday, the International Student Association (ISA) brought the Chinese New Year in with a celebration held in the cafeteria here at Bellevue Community College. The event featured a wide range of activities from games of mahjong to Chinese calligraphy. Volunteers painted students’ names on their hands in Chinese characters —with a warning to keep their inky palms out of their pockets. After playing one of the games, participants were asked one or two questions about Chinese culture. Those who didn’t know were given the answers, with a hope on the volunteers’ part to expand students’ knowledge of Chinese culture. “We just try to put on and promote events for all cultures throughout the year,” said Kara O’Laughlin, the ISA advisor. “The Chinese New Year is very important to them. It’s an important event in the Vietnamese culture as well as other cultures. We try to be receptive to everyone.” On top of that, there was a table of merchandise brought back from China by students that was available for purchase, with items ranging from classic painting fans and