On Feb. 1, hundreds of attendees gathered in the Memorial Union ballroom to celebrate the Taiwanese Student Association’s annual Taiwanese Cultural Night. The night began with mingling, games, snacks and refreshments. As attendees arrived, red envelopes containing a Chinese good luck coin were passed out.

The red envelope is a traditional Chinese gift offered during holidays such as the Lunar New Year. The envelopes are meant to be filled with money and given to a loved one as a symbol of good luck. 

Many attendees interviewed stated this was their first time attending the event, and for some, it was even their first time attending a cultural event on campus. “This event is really fun, the food is very tasty. It’s more familiar with Japanese food than the usual United States food,” said Riho, a third-year Computer Science major.

Food is an important part of Taiwanese culture, something the attendees expressed appreciation for at the event. When asked about the available cuisine, Adriana, a second-year Interior Design student, said: “Really good. I really like trying new foods so it was nice to experience.” 

Smaller snack items, green tea, apple plum juice and aloe vera drinks were available. “They were pretty spot on, yeah. Most of the snacks on there I recognized and they’re like actually one of my favorite snacks,” said Yuhong, a second-year Design and Innovation Management student. 

The night’s events also featured performances from Kevin, Kinetic, and Your Crush. 

Kara, a third-year Psychology major and dancer from Kinetic, gave a preview of the performance at the beginning of the night. “I know that I’m doing a couple songs kind of blended together, and then there’s a couple other dances that people are doing.” Kara also said the dance troop had been practicing for months in preparation for the Taiwanese Cultural Night.

Performer Kevin and pop duo Your Crush from Los Angeles sang for a captivated audience. “I really like the Your Crush concert, that was really nice,” said Yuhong about her favorite part of the night. “Yes, that was so cute,” said Adriana.

Interactive games were held on stage after the musical performances. Volunteers were led in traditional Taiwanese games including a rendition of the Ami and Puyuma bamboo dance and Smiski. 

Six rounds were played of Smiski, a copycat game to replicate poses presented by the Smiski figurines. “It was really fun. At first I didn’t know what I was doing, because they just asked for participants. … It was really fun trying to like pose and all that,” said Yuhong.

In the spirit of Lunar New Year celebrations, students also shared their resolutions. “Lunar New Year resolutions would probably just stay on (top of) my Chinese learning,” said Dylan, a second-year International Studies and Sociology major. Dylan also won Smiski and was awarded a LEGO Ninjago set. 

“Lunar New Years, probably just getting into like a better habit in general. Because I usually like to stay up a lot. I’m trying to like, you know, get my sleep schedule all sorted out and all that,” said Yuhong.The night closed out in high spirits and interviewees expressed their interest in attending again. More information about the Taiwanese Student Association can be found on their Instagram: @osu_twsa_official or Facebook: OSU Taiwanese Student Association.