On the evening of Monday April 27th, the Asian Student Association (ASA) hosted a gathering for students to come and celebrate the Cherry Blossom Festival. Beginning from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Bishops Lounge, students came to hang out with their friends and ate mochi candy to pass the time before they could indulge into their own delicious ramen.

The Cherry Blossom Festival is a centuries-old Japanese cultural tradition. Every March to April, picnics, parties, sake, and viewing parties are set up for the festival, these are known as hanami, meaning “viewing flowers.” Dating back more than 1000 years ago, hanami festivals were originally reserved for the Japanese aristocrats and centered around plum blossoms, rather than cherry blossoms. However, cherry blossoms have always held cultural significance throughout Japan, marking the arrival of spring. While the lifespan of cherry blossoms, or sakura, are brief, they are an important reminder of the impermanence of beauty and life. Today, visitors from all over the world come to Japan to watch the cherry blossoms bloom.

To bring in the spirit of spring, the ASA catered food from Fujiya Ramen Sushi Bar by bringing in various ramen bowls, with their own broth which they individually pour into their bowl. Students can choose from tonkatsu, vegetable, seafood, or spicy beef ramen. Each bowl also had their own assortments of toppings like vegetables, shrimp, eggs, meat, and more. I personally got the tonkatsu ramen, which had bean sprouts, pork, seaweed, bamboo, an egg, mushrooms, all in a pork broth. It was absolutely delicious and I greatly enjoyed everything in it.

One of the highlights of the celebration, and which encapsulates an important component of the festival, was being able to hang out with our friends, meeting new people, and catching up with each other before the end of the school year. In the middle of exam season, where finals are catching up on us and we are up all night studying, this was a nice chance to just relax and be with the people we love while eating good food. It was a great opportunity to decompress and enjoy ourselves, having fun by just talking with each other, giving updates on life, and sharing moments that happened recently, learning more about each other.

The ASA’s Cherry Blossom Festival celebration was a fun and relaxing event to round-up the year and brought an opportunity for a delicious evening to bring us a break from studying for exams. It was a great way to catch up with everyone and even get to meet new people before the semester ends. Make sure to keep an eye out for more events from the ASA and follow their Instagram @southwestern.asa for upcoming events!