February 14th is always a special day for those of us who enjoy any opportunity to celebrate romance. But this year, February 14th was an extra special day for the Yo San University community, and my entire family knew this from the moment we woke that morning and hurried to get to the school.
As we arrived on the 3rd floor of the university building, the Yo San student volunteers warmly welcomed us, and invited us into the shrine room. We sat down on our cushions and looked around, observing many faces of people I knew and many of people I did not know; a warm feeling of community grew in my heart; so many families peacefully sitting with their friends, significant others and children, patiently awaiting the start of the event. I was just thinking and appreciating one simple fact: How wonderful that we have the opportunity as a community to gather around once a year and celebrate the beginning of a New Year--the Chinese New Year at Yo San University. How fortunate we are to be able to participate in such a beautiful and joyous event!
The room was filling up quickly; I continued to recognize more faces, while noticing just as many that were new to me. This is one of the lovely things about being part of a growing, thriving community. I could see the university President sitting comfortably amidst the students, and many of my favorite instructors. The feeling of belonging was palpable. Like most others in the room, I was eagerly anticipating the moment Dr. Mao would come out and speak to us about what to expect for the Year of the Tiger, and Dr. Dao would gracefully lead us in the new year renewal ceremony. And I knew that Dr. Dao and Dr. Mao would be followed by professor Ed Sullivan presenting his delightful, whimsical, witty skit about the year of the Tiger! (My children’s favorite part of the event, of course!).
When the clock hit 10:00, Karen Gordon the President of YSUSA came out and introduced herself. I was touched by the personal story she shared with us about how she discovered Yo San university. Also, Karen having a passion for singing -- especially Korean opera -- had arranged a special guest appearance by Hunjeong Seo, who performed beautiful Traditional Korean Opera with her accompanist, Jungwon Oh. She was dressed in a precious and sweet pink baby doll like dress, holding an Asian paper fan, with beautiful white skin and rosy cheeks—for a second, I thought she was a porcelain doll.