In view of the Lunar New Year, let’s look back to a trip taken in the past by Core students to Boston’s Chinatown.
On Sunday February 5th 2006, a small party of students gathered at 10 AM to take the T to Chinatown to watch the traditional Lion Dance and enjoy a meal of dim-sum or “hearts delight.” During the Lion Dance (see photo), businesses and families paraded red, orange, black and white Chinese lions through the street. Shopkeepers offered bowls of oranges and lettuce, and if a lion stopped to take the food, it was assumed that shop would have good fortune for the New Year.
After watching the procession of carefully crafted lions, the group went to the dim-sum meal. The room was as big as a ballroom dance floor, with tables for 12 crowded in close that filled the room. Squeezing between the tables full of hungry patrons were waitresses with carts of various dishes: dumplings, meats, and desserts. In place of individual orders, one person would order for the whole table chicken feet, sweet bread with beans in the center, shrimp wontons and the waitress would lay out a tray of each dish for the table to share. There was always a pot of tea circulating the table or being refilled by a waitress. Although the crew arrived in Chinatown early in the morning, they did not leave the restaurant until well into the afternoon.
This Core in the City trip was a terrific example of one of the fundamental purposes of our time in the Core: the cultivation of appreciation for, and engagement with, the diverse cultures of the world.
This blog post was adapted from an article in Core’s Spring 2006 newsletter, De Ideis.
