The wheels of time move slowly forward. The New Year's bell is about to chime. Red lanterns, the Chinese character "Fu", exquisite paper decorations for windows and couplets are all over the campus filling everywhere with the atmosphere of the New Year. On the afternoon of the 16th of January, 2020, the students, domestic and international teachers of HIKSVS International School gathered together to join the grand event of "Celebrate Chinese New Year".
The activity kicked off with wonderful artistic performances. Vigorous cha-cha dance, a poetry recitation full of New Year's wishes, and ancient poetry recitation full of traditional cultural elements. We enjoyed such a cultural feast! Domestic and international teachers sang Chinese folk songs while playing the musical instruments and also performed traditional rap art, which promoted the exchange of Chinese and foreign cultures.
All the international teachers learned to speak Chinese and gave their good New Year wishes to us. Although their pronunciations of "Happy New Year" and "All the best" in Chinese were not very standard, they brought closer the distance between international teachers and domestic teachers and students. One of the most anticipated parts, writing the Chinese character "Fu" and making Chinese knots, built the atmosphere of the event to a climax. Together with the children, domestic and international teachers picked up the writing brushes to write down the Chinese character "Fu" full of New Year's vision, and made red Chinese knots. The venue overflowed with joy. The teachers and students also appreciated the unique charm of traditional culture through the game of “guessing lantern riddles” which is both interesting and informative.
After the event of celebrating the New Year, all the students, domestic and international teachers gathered together in the refectory. Everyone was very busy and happy on making dumplings and glutinous rice balls. When plates of cooked dumplings and glutinous rice balls were brought onto the table, everyone could feel the warmth.
Through the delightful event of "Celebrate Chinese New Year", the children experienced the Chinese culture. In the future, we hope they can possess global vision and deep insights into Chinese culture, bringing Chinese culture to all parts of the world and make contributions to the international cultural exchange.