新年快乐。

Everyone would greet you with these four words if you were in China; you would have a full table of different homemade Chinese food if you were in China; you would see how fireworks hit the sky at night if you were in China; and most importantly, you would get lots of red envelopes enclosed with money from older people if you were in China.

On Feb. 1, a snowstorm put Ames to rest for a day, which seemed like a gift for all of the Chinese students here, as they had a day off to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival in China, is undoubtedly the most important festival of all in China. Its celebration begins on the first day of the month of the Lunar Calendar and lasts 15 days. This is a festival of letting go of the past, wishing the best for the upcoming year and celebrating with family.

And this year is the Year of Rabbit.

“I really didn’t do many special things to celebrate my second overseas Spring Festival here because Chinese New Year needs to be celebrated by the whole family,” Zhao Liu, freshman in child, adult and family services, said. “I’d like rather to treat this day like a normal day, or it will be a depressing day for me because I miss them more. But I woke up very early that morning to webcam with my family — that was Chinese New Year’s Eve in China then — and my family gathered together as usual, having the annual reunion dinner, watching the 2011 CCTV Spring Festival Gala and greeting each other. Gosh, I miss everything there so much, especially the dumplings made by my mom, they are the best dumplings ever.”

Dumplings, the most typical food on the Chinese New Year table, symbolize the family staying together forever and living happily ever after.

“I still remember when I was young, my mom taught me how to make the dumplings; she asked me to put a coin in one of them, and whoever has that one at night, the fortune will come after him or her in the rest of this year,” Liu said. “I love the little superstitions like this, because it makes me believe in good things.

“I wanted to experience a different lifestyle in the United States, that’s why I came over here for my higher education,” Liu said. ” I didn’t know how much I cared about family till I came here. I realized that things I took for granted were not that easy to get by myself. Since the day I came to the U.S., I found out that I would have to quit everything that I had in China for quite a long time, such as friends, family even my appetite. I have to deal with every single problem by myself. Now I can totally understand the love my family gave to me, and that gives me a very hard time of not being able to celebrate any Chinese festivals with them, particularly, Chinese New Year.”

Many Chinese international students like Liu are in the same situation, having an independent life at Iowa State. They are here not only to develop their academic knowledge, but also their living skills. 

“The best thing about Chinese New Year is wishing for wonderful things to happen to the one you love during the rest of year. Even though I’m still young and fresh, I have faith in my future because of the love and strength my family gave to me,” Liu said with a big smile on her face.