Chinese New Year was welcomed in with roars of laughter and joy as boys across the school celebrated the year of the tiger.
Boys and staff immersed themselves in Chinese culture to mark the start of the Lunar New Year in a variety of ways – and with a school full of hungry teenagers, Chinese cuisine was at the heart of their celebrations. Our boarders kicked off with their favourite Chinese dishes over the weekend and on New Year’s Eve, they ventured beyond their usual Chow Mein and prepared a Chinese ‘hot pot’ to enjoy for dinner. Chinese hot pot is a social meal where diners sit around a simmering pot of broth at the centre of the table with various raw ingredients such as meat, fish and vegetables cut thinly to be cooked in the broth.
Upper Sixth Former Aaron Qiu, who is a boarder in Pemberley explained, “Making a hot pot needs a lot of preparation work in the kitchen before eating, and I was grateful to my housemates Jacky, Damon and Gordon who helped me prepare the food.”
Aaron also went on to say that he was particularly touched by the support of the school, especially the senior management, who take Chinese festivals seriously.
Frank Wang, a Lower Sixth Former in Burnaby, enjoyed helping his housemates make traditional decorations including lanterns and painting ‘happy new year’ in Mandarin. Their Housemaster, Mr James Hinkins, made ‘red letters’, which is one of the most famous symbols of Chinese New Year, and gave them to everyone in their house to create a festive atmosphere.
Frank told us, “I feel a sense of satisfaction because this is the first time I have introduced my culture to others and that’s impressive.”
On Tuesday, 25 boys and four staff members attended our Chinese Society to celebrate the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year is also called Spring Festival as it means spring comes). Here, Lower Sixth Former Joe Hart chaired a wonderful meeting to celebrate the Year of the Tiger and cut coconut rice cake for every participant. Joe Huang and Samson Lok, both boarders in Redburn, talked about their experiences of celebrating Chinese New Year in Shenzhen and Hong Kong respectively.
Dr Aurora Chen, Chinese Co-ordinator explained, “I feel that in recent years we have been doing a great job in terms of inclusion and diversity. The invaluable support provided by the senior management shows respect and celebration of an Eastern culture.”
Some of our teachers also recorded wishes of happiness and prosperity in a special Chinese New Year film. Mr Finch, Director of IB, sang a Chinese folk song, Mr Baldock, Deputy Head, Academic recited a Tang Dynasty poem encouraging us all to fly high; and Head Master James Hodgson and five Heads of Department gave New Year’s greetings in Mandarin. You can watch the film below.