Keats has successfully had our 2015 Culture Festival, which has been something our teachers and students who study Chinese at Keats school have been looking forward to for a long time.
On the way to the festival, our students all excitedly listened to Joy introduce what activities the day would included, as well as the background and history of Dianchi Wetland Park, as the all waited to be able to see what it really looked like.
At 9am. our students and teachers got on a bus to take them to Dianchi Wetland Park. When they got to the park, they were entranced by the green expanse unfolding in front of them. Because it is hard to see this much green, in this wide of a place inside the city limits, on top of all of the colors of wildflowers and plants, our students and teachers were all very excited, and couldn’t wait to enter the parks green embrace.
As we travelled along the path, both sides were full of bushes, trees, flowers, and grasses, and after a while a different type of scenery would appear. Everyone started to take out their phones and take pictures, not only because the scenery was beautiful, but also because of our “Love Kunming, Love Life” contest. We hope people could use their cell phones to capture how they see their life in Kunming. For these students living in Kunming, this type of contest is extremely meaningful.
After we walked for a bit longer, we got to our next contest, kite flying contest; too see who could fly the highest, who could fly the farthest. As each team unfolded their kites, they excitedly discussed their strategies, from emphasizing teamwork, to trying to run as fast as possible to get their kites in the air. There were even teams who wanted to see how other teams did, and learn from their failures. Even though it was many students first time flying kites, but even those students wanted to win as much as anybody. After a fierce battle, there finally appeared a winner, who not only got everyone’s congratulations, but also our school’s prize.
After this contest, everybody was starting to feel hungry, but our school had already prepared Yunnan flavor rice noodles. We also brought a wide variety of spices and flavorings, so everybody could have something they liked. Everybody, even the pickiest of eaters told us they loved it, and wanted seconds. Of course, we had prepared enough for everybody.
After everyone was full, we got ready to go back to the bus. As we returned, we didn’t expect as we passed through a pond with lotus, surrounded by flowers in full bloom, our students desire to take pictures would be awakened again. Everyone found scenery the loved the best, and then got their phones and cameras out.
As we returned, our students used Chinese to describe how they felt about the day, and as we saw their happy expressions, we knew we would have to do this again, but make this time more exiting, more meaningful.
