Christmas Celebrations Held for Foreign Teachers at SCBC
Pre-Christmas celebrations were held at SCBC with quality wine and exquisite culinary cuisine on the evening of Dec. 22nd when the event was attended by 21 foreign teachers, school administrators and staff from the Center for International Exchange and Co-operation. The canteen for the staff and faculty was alive with a happy holiday atmosphere where toasts were drunk and greetings were exchanged.
Before the start of the dinner party, Kemal, an Australian teacher of English, had a friendly chitchat with other teachers and students at the table, who were impressed with his skillful use of chopsticks. With that, he responded with tongue in cheek, “I love food. You’ll starve yourself if you don’t learn how to use chopsticks. So, every time I sit at the table, I’ll fantasize about the delicacies challenging me, ‘If you want to eat us, try with your chopsticks.’ ” He went on to talk about how people celebrate Christmas in Australia. He said that it is midsummer in Australia during the Christmas season because geographically Australia is located in the southern hemisphere. You don’t see much turkey served on the table. But people choose to barbeque to celebrate the holiday.
Regardless of differences in languages, nationalities, skin colors and races, people gather together at SCBC. Executive Vice President Lai Zhili proposed toasts to each and every foreign teacher to offer his seasonal greetings. According to him, such a dinner party is held at SCBC every year to celebrate Christmas, a traditional holiday observed by countries in the west. On the other hand, with the approaching of the traditional Chinese New Year and the ending of the winter semester, such an event will offer foreign teachers season’s blessings and greetings who are far away from their home countries and families. Meanwhile, such a gather-together dinner will trigger much needed cohesive incentive from foreign teachers. The executive vice president encouraged at the dinner foreign teachers to comment on teaching at SCBC and hoped that they can work harder to help the school attain the goal of bringing out more qualified professionals in majors of foreign languages. While mentioning the new year’s expectations, Lai Zhili said,” I wish all our foreign teachers at SCBC success in their work and happiness with their families.”
At the dinner party, foreign teachers from the same countries spoke their respective mother tongues, but all had the same wish to “spend Christmas with family.” Far away as he/she is from his/her own country and family, each and every foreign teacher at SCBC was said to feel greatly thankful for his/her pleasant experience in teaching and care from the school.
Foreign teachers at SCBC were all invited at the weekend to watch the Burning Floor, a classic opera, which was staged at the Grand Opera House of Guangzhou. Spending Christmas in China, a remote country from their home countries, none of the foreign teachers at SCBC were feeling lonely because the school is their “home” in China.