Mongolian students celebrated their Lunar New Year with their traditional “Zolgolt” greetings, clothes, food and a wrestling competition. The event was held on Feb. 22, and more than 100 people attended.
The celebration started with a short video introduction of Mongolian Lunar New Year traditions. The traditional greeting of raising one’s hands above or below another person's hands and kissing them on the cheek, called Zolgolt, was performed. While attendees were feasting on traditional foods, four volunteers serenaded them with Mongolian and English songs.
Towards the end of the event, male Mongolian students participated in a wrestling competition, another Lunar New Year tradition.
Purevsuren Narantuya, a sophomore from Mongolia majoring in supply chain, came in first place, and Ganzorig Solibat, a freshman from Mongolia majoring in marketing, came in second place.
President of the BYUH Mongolian Students Association Ulziibayar Badamdorj, a junior from Mongolia majoring in information systems, said their Lunar New Year celebration was successful this year.
“In the past, we never had this many people in our Lunar New Year celebrations. Eleven non-Mongolian members came to the event, and we loved to share our culture with them. We also had many Mongolian visitors from Mongolia and Honolulu. Some people were crying because of feeling the Spirit and missing the country.”
Holomesi Finau, a senior from Tonga majoring in political science, said he is dancing in the Mongolian Club’s Culture Night performance. He shared he is good friends with Badamdorj, who gave him a traditional Mongolian outfit of a hat and shirt he wore to the event.
It was his first time celebrating Mongolian Lunar New Year, he said. “One of the beauties of this school is diversity, and it was interesting to see how other cultures celebrate their holidays.”
Brec Jorgensen, a sophomore from Utah double majoring in exercise and sports science and music, said he is also dancing in the Mongolian Club’s Culture Night performance and shared he has many Mongolian friends. Finau and Jorgensen were also competitors of the wrestling competition.
Jorgensen shared, “Everyone was happy and having fun. The food was amazing … the horse milk drink was shocking. I thought it would be sweet, but it was sour. I saw this chapter has many young families with young babies. Many of them were matching with their traditional clothes. It was very beautiful.”
Margaret Erdenebat, adjunct faculty in the Faculty of Sciences, said her family loves to come to every Mongolian Club event because her husband, Baagie Erdenebat, is originally from Mongolia.
“I liked the tradition of Zolgolt because they keep respect for the elders through this ritual. I also love Mongolian foods because we make them at home. We make dumplings together as a family. It brings us together. Our children are trying to learn to make it. I am also happy to see the Mongolian [Club] growing.”
Baagie Erdenebat, a supervisor and maintenance engineer at Hawaiian Airlines, said Lunar New Year is the second biggest holiday in Mongolia. He said he misses his country and his family members who live in Mongolia. “When we come to Mongolian [Club] events, we feel like we are at home. Since we cannot go to Mongolia every year, having the Mongolian [Club] near helps us to expose our children to the culture.”
Ganchuluun Behbat, a student at IIE Hawaii English School in Honolulu, was one of the attendees. He is originally from Mongolia. He said, “I didn’t know BYUH had a big Mongolian community. I was so shocked by the authenticity of the celebration and felt like I was in Mongolia. I also was surprised that so many married students are studying here, and the BYUH campus is very beautiful.”
Badamdorj said his team planned the event for a month and are happy with the result. He said now his team’s main focus will be on Culture Night. Badamdorj also said his team is creating the following five subcommittees to lighten their workload:
1.Sport and Active Life Committee
2.Spiritual Committee
3.Cultural Committee
4.Academic Success Committee
5.Entertainment and Fun Committee