Chinese Culture Day
Student Feedback
Friday the 7th of August will be a day to remember. Chinese Culture Day occurred on that day. It was an amazing life experience for me. I learnt so much about the Chinese culture and history. It was inspirational and so unique. There were a wide range of activities on the day such as the Chinese lion dance, the fan dances, a traditional Chinese instrument showcase and student performances. Students could volunteer to participate and learn in all of these activities. They all had a captivating story behind them and it taught us different views and perspectives. The auditorium was full of emotions, awe, amazement, nerve wracking, laughing, happiness, sadness etc. It was so enjoyable. I am already looking forward to next year’s Chinese Culture Day.
Jesse Dodgshun-Lindsay 9R
Chinese Culture Day was a wonderful experience filled with facts, color, humor and of course, culture. We had so many great and talented people who performed for us which was the highlight of the whole day. Not only did they perform, but we also got to participate in each one. I love Chinese culture and the culture day made me love it more!
Corinna Bentley 8C2
The Chinese Culture Day this year was very well prepared. It was very entertaining and I had a lot of fun. The workshops and guest speakers were very inspiring. I liked all of the workshops and the dances/performances from the Year 8’s, 10’s and seniors. It was sad that year 9s didn’t get to perform something. I also enjoyed the fortune cookies at the end.
Thank you Ms Chen and Ms Elliott for organizing this wonderful day, I really enjoy it!
Ky Duyen Luong 9R2
Chinese Culture Day
On Friday the 7th of August, the Confucius Classroom at Melbourne Girls’ College (MGC) held the annual Chinese Culture Day. The Chinese culture sparked the enthusiasm amongst students and teachers and drove away the bitterness of Melbourne’s cold winter. Mrs Karen Money, Principal of MGC made a speech to address this special occasion. Mrs Money quoted Confucius’ famous saying, ‘I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand’. This perfectly illustrated her understanding of the essence of education.
Mr Thomas Day, External Relations and Project Manager from the Confucius Institute at University of Melbourne was the guest speaker. When he was studying in China as a university student, Mr Day had the opportunity to work for the Australian Pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. This experience broadened his career opportunities and since then, Mr Day worked for various organisations such as the Australia China Alumni Association, Australia China Business Council Victorian Branch, Austrade Shanghai and the Confucius Institute at University of Melbourne. Mr Day used his personal experience to inspire students to study Chinese.
In order to enable students to understand the essence of Chinese culture thus appreciate its beauty, Ms Chen invited artists and performers to conduct three workshops for the students: Lion Dance & Martial Arts, Fan Dance and Traditional Chinese Music. By the end of each workshop, students were able to do the basic movements of the lion dance and fan dance. Under the instructions of renowned Chinese musician Mr Zhengting Wang, a group of MGC students formed a temporary band on site and played successfully a piece of Anhui folk music.
The highlight of the event were student performances. One Year 8 Chinese class choreographed a dance called ‘Twelve Zodiacs’. Students sang out aloud the twelve zodiacs in Chinese while dancing. Year 11 student Isadora Lauritz sang the song ‘Tale of a Small Town’ beautifully. Last year Isadora represented MGC in the Chinese Bridge – Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary Students. Another Year 11 student Yuwei Liu played a piece of music on zither ‘Songs from the Returning Fish Boats’. Yuwei played so skilfully and the music was captivating. Year 10 Chinese students recited a classical Chinese poem by Li Bai ‘A Tranquil Night’, depicting the poet’s homesickness vividly. The Chinese Culture Day also provided opportunity for international students from China to show their talent. Year 11 student Xintong Li performed an astounding sword dance. The Chinese Culture Day ended with a pop hit ‘Little Apple’ which swept the world in 2014. This set the whole auditorium on fire! All students, teachers and even visitors got up and danced along. Everybody loved it. What a great day!
The Chinese Culture Day unfolded part of the Chinese culture in front of the Australian students. In addition, teachers at MGC and Hanban sponsored Chinese language assistants are doing their part in introducing the Chinese culture through a wide range of activities on a daily basis. They also organise excursions, incursions, museum and gallery visits and study tours to China to enhance student learning. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Hanban and the Confucius Institute at University of Melbourne for their continuous support to our Confucius Classroom Program.
Lucy Chen