Chinese New Year Reception

Yesterday we went to a Chinese New Year reception hosted by the Confucius Institute at Purdue University.  It was around 5 degrees outside so Emily and I bundled up for the 1/4 mile run from our parking spot to the event. Andrew met us there and helped us shed our twenty layers of gear.

When we first walked in they gave us a token of luck for the new year.

Emily was quick to spot the bear and dragon.  She learned the sign for bear in the morning and was able to use the sign a lot during the hour and a half we were at the event.  She spent most of the time watching him from a distance, but at the end she and Andrew jumped in for a high five. While she was watching him a lot of people were snapping this picture of her. We figured we should grab one too since there was no way we were getting the pictures from the Chinese grandparents that had about 20 shots of her on their phones.

We enjoyed eating a variety of delicious foods and I confirmed once again I’m not the biggest fan of sushi but do love potstickers. Emily loved the vegetable egg rolls. Andrew likes everything.

My favorite part of the event was the program of short demonstrations. There was a traditional folk dance, kung fu, calligraphy, and singing.

Purdue’s president Mitchell Daniels also made an appearance for the event and was swarmed by the media.

Andrew snapped a few shots of Emily as she people watched. She clapped along with everyone at the end of each demonstration. Towards the end of the performances Emily just exploded with happiness and danced around the ballroom for about twenty minutes until we were ready to head home.