Happy Dragon Boat day everyone! I am so sorry that it took so long for me to post. If you want to place blame on anyone, blame my neighbor and my best friend Jason. He distracted me and I never had time to write my blog. Shame! Shame! on Jason. He never reads my blog anyway! In fact I am in his house writing this blog. Jason’s house is the party house.
Today we had a Dragon Boat Festival Party at my school. Just a brief synopsis. Dragon Boat Festival is a celebration of loyalty and honor. It is a tribute to Qu Yuan, a statesman, patriot and a poet who was exiled from the Chu dynasty. When the Qing dynasty overthrew the emperor, Qu Yuan killed himself in sorrow and to show his honor and loyalty to the old regime.
Zongzi is a type of dumplings eaten during the festival, it is glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. There are different types and flavor. Some have nuts. I have to stay away from those. The Zongzi was thrown into the river to keep the fish from eating Qu Yuan’s body.
Initially , the Foreign Affairs Office wanted to host a small party to introduce the foreign teachers to the holiday. Somehow this idea morphed into a big extravaganza organized by Jason and I. We were no longer the guest of honor but the facilitators and participants. We had to come up with the ideas and enlist students from our classes. This an extremely Chinese concept, so we were reluctant plus they said that we are really creative. A dose of ego feeding is the best form of coercion.
We came up with some great ideas. We had a skit,a zongzi wrapping demo, a Zongzi passing contest (like hot potato), singers, dancers and a zongzi eating contest. We invited some students. Oh and the school invited the press! They wanted to publicize this.
This event could either sink , swim or fly. I was nervous. If it stunk then blame it on us! Hehehe. I have to say though I did not want to do this willingly, I am so glad that I did. I really learned so much about The Dragon Boat Festival. I had to research it because I wrote the short skit for the festival! The students worked very hard to make this event a success and I love them all so much. They practiced despite the fact that they are preparing and taking finals.
It was really a great way for the students on campus who live far away from home to celebrate the holiday. I also really feel so much closer to my students and Jason’s students since we spent so much time preparing for the Dragon Boat Festival. We practiced, we laughed and bonded.
Oh and I I was featured ion the news I’m a star!!!!! So awesome!!!! Maybe my soul mate was watching the 6:30 news and will see me fall in love with me and come and find me! Oh if only life was like a movie!!! My life story would be Nocturnal in Nanchang.