Crowding in Susie’s, students lined up for free ramen noodles and bamboo planting which entailed picking their own bamboo shoots and then filling a mini glass pot with colorful pebbles of their choice. These activities were part of the ramen munch and “Plant Your Own Bamboo” event that took place last Friday as part of CelebrAsian.
“It’s nice because people can get involved with taking their own little souvenir home while [they] get to have a taste of what Asian culture might be like, and it’s a time for the school community to get together and explore different aspects of the culture,” said Sophie Liu ’20, a participant.
The ramen munch and “Plant Your Own Bamboo” event was organized for CelebrAsian for the first time this year. According to Adrian Khactu, Instructor in English and faculty advisor of Asian Society, he hoped that the event would promote an awareness of Asian cultural backgrounds.
“It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, everyone knows what ramen noodles are,’ but many people don’t realize that ramen noodles aren’t only things you can find ten for a dollar in a grocery store that come in little freeze-dried packs. We want our students to be aware that instant ramen is representative of a long-standing Japanese culinary tradition. Likewise, bamboo is something a lot of us only associate with Chinese restaurants, so planting your own bamboo allows people to de-familiarize what might only be seen as a symbol of Asian-ness. Plus, it’s lucky!” said Khactu.
