{"id":28933,"date":"2016-02-10T15:34:52","date_gmt":"2016-02-10T21:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=28933"},"modified":"2016-02-11T11:00:38","modified_gmt":"2016-02-11T17:00:38","slug":"chinese-seniors-celebrate-the-lunar-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chinese-seniors-celebrate-the-lunar-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Seniors Celebrate the Lunar New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Shanshan Wang <\/strong><\/p>\n

Welcoming the Year of the Monkey, about 80 elderly residents originally from China celebrated the Lunar New Year with traditional music and cuisine in Chinatown on Monday. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to bring warmth to the older adults, [the] majority of which live alone in senior buildings or with family members who work days and nights, and to reminisce [about] our Chinese traditions in our villages, and\u00a0maintain Chinese heritage and culture,\u201d said Winnie Lam, home and community based service officer for the Chinese American Service League<\/a>, which organized the event. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At the party, the large character \u201cFu\u201d, which means blessing and good luck in Chinese, added to the New Year atmosphere. People dressed up as the God of Fortune sent out red envelopes to the elderly as the new year tradition.<\/p>\n

Zuojuan Liang has lived in America for more than three decades and now lives in a senior building in Chinatown. Following her own passion for singing, the 80-year-old joined the senior choir about five years ago and practices once a week.<\/p>\n

For this new year\u2019s party, the choir prepared traditional Chinese folk songs in Cantonese and Mandarin for weeks, which conveyed a feeling of nostalgia.<\/p>\n

\u201cHappiness is health,\u201d Liang said in Mandarin. \u201cNow I don\u2019t have any financial burdens. Also, I don\u2019t need a lot for my life. I just want a simple life and to be happy.\u201d Her grown children have full-time jobs, which leaves her time for a simpler life and spending time with her friends. So Liang goes to the senior center, frequently singing, doing exercises or playing Mahjong with other senior friends in Chinatown. <\/p>\n

Though she has lived in the United States for decades, like many seniors, she still cannot speak English. She spends most of their time in Chinatown where there are almost no language or cultural barriers. Thus to enrich their daily life, and daytime nursing care for senior adults, the service league offers English courses, singing activities, and field trips to help improve their socialization, physical and mental well-being.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very helpful when they need something at Walgreens,\u201d said Susan Blumberg-Kason, the volunteer instructor who has been teaching English classes since last September. \u201cThey might never be proficient, but it\u2019s just something to do during the day.\u201d Before the new year, she also taught the seniors to make red lanterns made of envelopes and Chinese banners.<\/p>\n

Ruifeng Chen is one of the students. Chen came to America from Beijing 10 years ago. When her daughter was working during the day, she felt lonely and bored since she didn\u2019t speak English and had no where to go. After she moved to the senior building and met other Chinese elderly people, she became an active participant in senior singing groups, lectures on traditional Chinese culture and craft making, all of which helped her feel more comfortable with the life here in the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I feel happier,\u201d Chen said in Mandarin. \u201cI can make friends here through many activities like this new year party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Chinese seniors celebrate the Lunar New Year with caregivers and volunteers from the Chinese American Service League at Evergreen Restaurant in Chinatown. (Photo Courtesy of Chinese American Service League)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Shanshan Wang Welcoming the Year of the Monkey, about 80 elderly residents originally from China celebrated the Lunar New Year with traditional music and cuisine in Chinatown on Monday. \u201cWe want to bring warmth to the older adults, [the] majority of which live alone in senior buildings or with family members who work days […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":272,"featured_media":28940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[585],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-winter-2016"],"yoast_head":"\nChinese Seniors Celebrate the Lunar New Year - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chinese-seniors-celebrate-the-lunar-new-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chinese Seniors Celebrate the Lunar New Year - 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