Link: UCOP's e-newsletter

Stay Informed. Stay Connected.

Celebrate Lunar New Year with APISA next week

Above: Photos from last year’s Lunar New Year Celebration in Oakland

On Wednesday, Feb. 5, please join the Asian Pacific Islander Staff Association (APISA) for a Lunar New Year Celebration in Oakland and via Zoom!

Enjoy a cultural performance, activities and snacks

In addition to the highly anticipated return of the lion dance performance, APISA will provide a sampling of Asian foods and opportunities to participate in other cultural activities.

Meet Author Anna Wong and buy books from Asian and Pacific Islander authors

Anna Wong

Children’s book author and illustrator Anna Wong holds a copy of her book, “Doubly Happy.”

Bay Area-based Asian American children’s book author and illustrator Anna Wong will join us to meet staff and sell her books.

Anna began writing as a passion project motivated by her desire to share Chinese culture with her 14 nieces and nephews. In her response to anti-Asian hate, she creates books that inspire pride in Asian heritage and roots, while highlighting the symbolism in everyday Chinese objects and actions. Her goal is to preserve and celebrate her family’s traditions and culture.

The Asian American Curriculum Project (AACP) will also once again attend to introduce and sell a variety of books by AAPI authors — including children’s book author Oliver Chin, who wrote the series “Tales from the Chinese Zodiac.” To order signed copies of any of Chin’s books, complete this order form (PDF). These books make wonderful gifts and the AACP offers volume discounts! If you pre-order by Jan. 29, AACP will deliver the books on the day of the event.

Join us

  • What: APISA Lunar New Year Celebration
  • When: Feb. 5, 2025
  • Oakland: Join us from 1  – 3 p.m. in the Broadway Conference Center
  • Zoom option: We will livestream cultural performances from 2 – 3 p.m. (PT). Join using this Link.

Download an event flyer

About the Lunar New Year

Commonly known as the Spring Festival in China, Lunar New Year is a fifteen-day celebration marked by many traditions. At home, families decorate windows with red paper cuttings and adorn doors with couplets expressing auspicious wishes for the new year. Shopping for holiday sundries in open-air markets and cleaning the house are also beloved traditions. The Lunar New Year’s Eve reunion dinner is the highlight that kicks off the holiday, a feast with a spread of symbolic dishes, such as a whole fish representing abundance, that bring good luck and fortune.

2025: Year of the Wood Snake

This year’s Lunar New Year falls on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, and welcomes the Year of the Wood Snake. The Snake year encourages protection, so create a safe space to work and live by practicing good feng shui to feel safe and secure to enhance the year’s energy. This is the year to make headway in methodical and strategic ways. There is no need to exhaust your energy: Adopt the nature of the Snake with awareness and a greater sense of timing, ready to strike when the time is right to maximize the energy of the year.

Taking time off for Lunar New Year

If you take time off for Lunar New Year, record this time as PTO in TRS. Help APISA spread awareness about the importance of the Lunar New Year by noting that you are taking time off to celebrate in your PTO request. APISA has put together a toolkit with sample PTO requests and out-of-office replies to support your efforts.

 

Tags: , ,

Leave your comment here