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Monday, January 31, 2000 Asian New Year Festivities FridayBy AUDREY PARENTE | News-Journal Staff Writer ORMOND BEACH — Gregorian calendars might read 2000, but according to some Asian cultures, Friday night is the eve of the Year of the Dragon.
On the Chinese calendar, we are about to enter the Year 4698, and the Korean calendar will flip to the Year 4333. Friday also is New Year's Eve for the Japanese and Vietnamese. At 6 p.m. Friday, Chinese dancer Kim Hardiman and martial arts Master Luo Li will be hosts at a free event at Ormond Oaks Plaza to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Li will exhibit the martial arts forms of Wushu and Tai Chi, while Hardiman will dance with swirling silk scarves and angry dragon masks. During her New Year's Eve performance, Hardiman will explain Chinese traditions, astrology and symbolism behind the dragon. "The dragon's writhing image coils throughout China's history. It's graceful lines appear everywhere in the Emperor's Forbidden City, on silk, porcelain, wood bronze, marble and even the imperial throne," Hardiman said. "The ancient Chinese believed the dragon was the source of the emperor's power, symbolizing his ability to bring about positive change." People born this year will be full of vitality and enthusiasm" and will be energetic, popular and confident," said the Hong Kong- born Hardiman. She was adopted as a young child by American parents of English and German heritage. "I lost my culture because I was brought up in the American culture, but I want to revive my lost history and try to share that," she said. "For people who are interested in the Asian culture and a way of celebrating New Years in another country, we invite people to come." For John and Oki Grothe, owners of a Korean restaurant, Saturday will be the first day of the Korean Year 4333. John said that's as far back as documented Korean history dates. The Grothes will celebrate with some traditional Korean New Year food specialties. "Korean New Year is a very family-oriented holiday. What we usually do is have a big celebration," Grothe said. The Minnesota native said he met his Korean-born wife in California and has adopted many of her cultural traditions. "We visit elders, dress in our newest clothes and shoes. In the old days, everyone celebrated their birthday," he said. He explained that people would add a year to their chronological ages on Korean New Year, instead of on their actual birthdays. "But, as we become more homogeneous as a planet, a lot of these things get diluted," Grothe added. On Friday and Saturday the couple's restaurant in South Daytona will offer a few special holiday dishes in addition to the usual Korean fare. Foods for the holiday table would include rice cake soup, made with beaten rice and broth, with mondu, a rice-flour dumpling, he said. Pan-fried, batter covered seafood and flour pancakes stuffed with vegetables and baby clams are some of the traditional holiday dishes. He said that holiday desserts are made with sweetened rice. "They also have a lot of different varieties of kim chee spicy, pickled vegetables," Grothe said. Like the Chinese and Koreans, the Vietnamese will prepare for the Lunar New Year, Tet, on Friday, and the Japanese will prepare for Oshogatsu. For information on Li and Hardiman's free Chinese New Year event, call (904) 788-5897. For more information on oriental New Year traditions, visit the following web site: www.familyculture.com. HICI Special Report — Year of the Horse: Horses, Horoscopes and Holidays |
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