Hmong New Year Research Paper

The Hmong New Year has always been a focal part of my family’s traditions. Around November and December church members will set up a small festival where the Hmong community comes together to bring our culture to light. It is a time to enjoy the company of family and friends from all over and look for those few familiar faces I have not seen in a long time. The sight of each person brings back memories as a kid running around without a care in the world. Seeing another Hmong person is like finding a needle in a haystack, and this festival brings them all to one place, giving me a sense of belonging in my culture. The Hmong New Year is held on the campus of Santa Ana College every year. The festival is held near the area of Dunlap Hall, the …show more content…
There are two different types of rice that is cooked, steamed rice which is the normal white rice and sticky rice which is purple but does not fall apart because of the stickiness. I would always go with the sticky rice because the sticky texture goes well with meat and it can be dipped into any type of sauce. The meat choices are very limited in from chicken, pork, and beef, but my go to choice is the Lao sausages. The sausages are grilled until it has a dark brown coating around it and comes with a green chili sauce with cilantro in it. The last thing I will put on my plate is papaya salad, and just looking at it makes my mouth watery. It comes in small green strands from the papaya mixed together with red tomatoes, red Thai chili peppers, and brown crab paste. When I find a place to sit and eat, I start with the sausages first and dip it into the chili sauce and with the first bite the crackling crunch of the meat explodes in my mouth but after I start chewing the texture becomes soft on the inside, with sweet juices flowing with a spicy kick to it from the chili. Sometimes I would put some pieces of the sausages onto the sticky rice, roll it up and it would turn out to look like a dumpling, then dip it into the sauce which creates a weird but delicious texture of stickiness, sweetness, and spiciness. But the best has yet to be eaten. The papaya …show more content…
The older generations are probably the ones who enjoys the festivities the most because of their loud bantering to each other in Hmong about their times in the Motherland and the stories of their lives. Once everyone has finished eating, there is a small concert, where the younger generational Hmong would conduct. The stage is next to the small stairs with the water fountain, across the library and Caesar Chavez building. It is usually a Hmong traditional dance where the women dress up in traditional Hmong clothing and dance on stage. The clothing consists of three different parts, the headdress, the top, and the bottom. The headdress is a black turban with a small white gem in the front. The top is a white blouse with a black silk-like jacket worn on top of the blouse and a necklace made with aluminum coins worn around the neck. The last part is a white pleated skirt with pink patterns at the bottom of the skirt, a black apron tied around the waist covering the front and back of the skirt, and a black fabric belt with the coins tied all around it. When they start their dance the jingling of the coins and the soft sound of the background music gives me chills. It brings back memories of old photos of my parents and their family dressed up in Hmong clothing back in the Motherland. With the girls smiling faces shining on stage, the sight of it

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Hmong New Year Research Paper

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