Lunar New Year Events around Atlanta

There are several Lunar New Year celebrations going on around Atlanta over the next week:

Sunday, February 7th, 11 AM- 8 PM: The Vietnamese Community of Georgia will be hosting its Lunar New Year Celebration (called Tet) at 5495 Jimmy Carter Blvd. (next to Hong Kong Supermarket) in Norcross. Admission is $5. It looks like a lot of fun; there will be food, performances, games...

If your Superbowl festivities keep you from the event on the 7th, never fear! There are several other interesting events throughout the week:

February 13th, 4pm-1am (yes, 1AM!) and February 14th, 12pm-8pm: The Vietnamese Association of Greater Atlanta will host its Tet festival at 5495 Jimmy Carter Blvd., Norcross. . Admission is $5.

Also on February 13th and 14th (10am-4pm): The Chinese Cultural Center festival (5377 New Peachtree Road, Chamblee) will include a dragon dance, Chinese opera performances, traditional drum performance, calligraphy demonstrations, arts and crafts, and food. Admission is $5.

Feb. 14, 6pm-10pm: The Korean Kyungki do/Seoul/Incheon Association will hold its New Year Celebration at the JC Event Hall, 5775 Jimmy Carter Blvd., Norcross. The free event will feature traditional music, dancing, singing and food.

So much to do, so little time! Looks like I'll be festival-hopping the next few weekends!

If Asian festivals are not your thing, the High Museum of Art is hosting a French Film Festival in February. They will be showing French films every Saturday night in February at 8pm. General admission is $7; for students, seniors, and High members, admission is $6.

Steve McCurry AND Upcoming Events

I'm heading off to work in a few minutes, but just wanted to put up a quick post about a few interesting things...

First, I had the amazing opportunity to meet and speak with renowned photojournalist Steve McCurry last night-- even if you do not recognize the name, you would probably recognize many of his iconic images from National Geographic, including one of an Afghan Girl with deep green eyes. McCurry has worked as a photojournalist around the world from Afghanistan to India to Myanmar, and has incredible talent for capturing the human spirit through his portraits.

McCurry's work is on display at Besharat Gallery in Castleberry Hill through November 1. Thanks to friends Katherine and Terry for knowing about the art opening and inviting me along! Terry will likely be posting pictures from the evening on his blog, Architecture Tourist, so definitely check them out! Thanks to Katherine, too, for prodding me to go up and speak to Mr.McCurry-- I was a little star-struck and first and needed a little encouragement to fight my way through the cluster of adoring fans to actually speak to him.

A few other international events going on this weekend:

--The Atlanta Turkish Festival will be at the Gwinnett Convention Center on Saturday, Oct 17th and Sunday, October 18th.

--For any francophones or aspiring francophones, come to La Madeleine in Dunwoody for the monthly French conversation breakfast on Saturday morning beginning at 10am!

--The Cumming Greek Festival in Forsyth County on Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 17th-18th).

--Last but not least, the Latin American Film Festival is going on at the High Museum through October 31.

I'll be at the Turkish Festival and French conversation breakfast and will post photos next week!

Greetings!

Thanks for checking out my blog! 

This will be a work constantly in progress, but I thought I'd begin with a little background about the evolution of the idea behind it all...

Sitting in my office, I often long to be traveling and exploring new places, meeting new people, experiencing new tastes, smells, and noises. With limited vacation time and limited funds, my options for international travel are fairly limited. 

I try to keep up my French and stay in tune with international stories through French podcasts. I've been listening lately to one in particular, Au detour du monde, produced by France Inter.  It's a varied program and includes travel advice, music from around the world, and a feature from another country. Recent topics have included a film festival in Burkina Faso, the experience of living in a yurt in Mongolia, and traveling across Finland in the middle of winter. 

While listening to the podcast the other day, I started thinking about how great it would be to be a reporter for Au detour du monde and for my job to be to explore new places and learn about other cultures...when I realized I can do just that here in Atlanta. At that moment, I decided to make it a personal project to get out and explore all the international cultures, food, and activities that Atlanta has to offer, and I hope my adventures inspire others to do the same--to get out of their comfort zone and try new foods and go new places...without even having to leave Georgia. 

I plan on using this blog as a means of documenting my experiences through text, photos, and videos. 

Enjoy!