TEAM TRADITIONS THE EXCHANGE WINTER 2023 Judy Tang Ron Lim Associate Digital Marketing Manager, AppExchange Job Title: Associate Creative Director, AppExchange Nationality: Chinese Nationality: Chinese What does the Lunar New Year mean to you? What does the Lunar New Year mean to you? New years is an important holiday that my family celebrates. There Firecrackers, red envelopes, moon cake, rabbit candy are many traditions that we practice that make me think of my Can you tell us about some of the traditions? childhood and memories I had growing up. It’s the one holiday my Married people are supposed to give lucky red envelopes to single mom is people, but especially to kids. super strict about and making sure there’s positive energy and everyone is getting along. Do you have any special dishes that you eat? Can you tell us about some of the traditions? Yes, chicken, glass noodles, Chinese tamales (sticky rice, • Married couples give red envelopes with money inside for good mushrooms, nuts, salted eggs, or luck to kids and single people. Red symbolizes good luck and sausage), and shrimp chips fortune. Young people give their best wishes to their elders. • Clean house in preparation for New Year and add good luck scrolls. It’s bad luck to start the year with a messy house. • Family dinner to ensure the solidarity and cohesiveness of the family throughout the year. • Avoid washing hair and getting a haircut on New Year’s because hair is a homonym for “fortune” so if you wash/cut your hair it’s like “washing/cutting your fortune away” at the beginning of the new year. • Light firecrackers in front of your house or business to scare away unwanted spirits. Do you have any special dishes that you eat? On new years day my family doesn’t eat any meat. Meat comes from killing an animal so you don’t want to start the year by shedding blood. It’s important to eat a good meal with multiple dishes so that you will be eating well throughout the year. What makes you most proud of your heritage? I think it’s cool that these historic traditions have been passed down from generations of Chinese culture, and the fact that we still practice some of these traditions today as our ancestors did. It’s also nice to see the family togetherness and respect given to one another, especially elders. Is there anything else you would like to share? Many other Asian cultures celebrate Lunar New Year as well, and have similar and overlapping traditions — and a lot of the traditions may seem a little silly but it brings everyone together and it’s nice that everyone is always happy and in a good mood during Lunar New Year. 15