Students carefully watched the Lion Dancers perform at the Cultural Carnival Thursday night in the Student Activities Center Ballroom A, intrigued by the delicate dance of ornately decorated dragons embellished with accents of red and gold.
Hosted by the Chinese Association at Stony Brook — with the help of the Asian Student Alliance, Japanese Culture Association, Vietnamese Student Association, and South Asian Student Alliance — the Cultural Carnival was the first in what could be the start of a new annual tradition.
Students bought tickets to use at the many game stations, which included ring toss, a chopstick relay and a game called Fish Pong. In Fish Pong, students attempted to throw a ping pong ball into a cup from a distance. Those who succeeded received a live fish as a prize. At another station, entitled Touch My Tile, students felt the underside of a Mahjong tile without looking and tried to identify it among a picture of all the different pieces.
The Lion Dance team, which was comprised of members of the Chinese Associated, performed its intricate dance twice during the night. There was one dancer for each of the two dragon costumes, and a third playing the drums for the routine.
Groups such as the Japanese Culture Association and South Asian Student Alliance brought their own ideas to the carnival as well.
The Japanese association organized a table where students could learn origami, and the South Asian alliance staffed a Henna station.
The Vietnamese association was teaching students simple phrases of Vietnamese. Periodically throughout the night, raffles were held to give away various prizes ranging from t-shirts and DVD’s to the grand prize, an eight gigabyte flash drive. “We’ve had really good turnout, especially considering that we were competing with a Biology 202 test tonight,” said Stephanie Long, president of the Chinese Association of Stony Brook. By the end of the night, approximately 200 people attended the event.
This was Long’s first time working in unison with various Asian associations, and she found it was a great experience. “Some group us [together] with other Asian cultures, but we’re still distinct.
“We’re more multi-cultural,” she said. Long hopes to continue working with these groups and others to help promote the spread and sharing of culture at Stony Brook University.
A portion of the money raised by the event will go to the Asian ‘ Pacific Islanders American Scholarship Fund.
