May 5^th on lunar calendar, which is June 2^nd this year, was Chinese traditional festival – Dragon Boat Festival. This festival is to memorize a remarkable Chinese poet Qu Yuan in history. The customs of celebrating it are to eat sticky rice dumplings, watch boat races, and hang Ay Tsao on front doors. Keats teachers celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival together with Keats students this year.

Last Friday, Keats School was full of special decorations. Once you entered the school gate, you will see Ay Tsao, a kind of plant with special aroma, hanged on the two sides of the gate. The teachers started to explain the customs to the students after seeing their curious faces. One of the teachers also told the story of the Dragon Boat Festival, which intrigued the students’ strong interest in Chinese culture. One American student said that Chinese people should try their best to preserve such valuable traditional culture because a country’s history is her priceless treasure. Since the Dragon Boat Festival is related to the brilliant poet Qu Yuan, Keats teachers also prepared some of his poems, which were used to help the students practice pronunciations. Many students liked this special way of teaching, which not only helped them learn Chinese in a natural way, but also gave them useful information of its culture.  After the Dragon Boat Festival was introduced in the small group classes, the students were invited to share the traditional festivals in their home countries. The students showed great interest and curiosity to different cultures as they kept asking questions.

Well, a big surprise was waiting for the students. When the students walked out of classrooms after class, they saw a lot of sticky rice dumplings with different stuffing such as bacon, red beans, vegetables, and peanuts on the library table. The students were invited to try some dumplings and they can’t stop praising the delicacy of the dumplings. One student shared his understanding of Chinese cuisine: Chinese people use all kinds of methods and all kind of materials to cook food, that’s why Chinese food is always tasty and unparalleled. Another student said “I am so lucky that I experience the festival unexpectedly just one week since I arrived in China. This made me become more interested in Chinese culture.  I will definitely come to study at Keats especially during the traditional festivals because there will be great food served.” Other students all burst into peals of laughter. Ms. Huang introduced ways to make dumplings while the students were eating, so that the students can make their own dumplings at home.

Many students were also invited to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival by their Chinese friends. To the students, this was the very first time they celebrated a traditional Chinese festival with Chinese families. They kept asking what gift would be the best for their Chinese friends. Ms. Hang told them Chinese people are very hospitable, and as long as you enjoy their food and regard them as families, they do not expect any gift.

We hope that all the teachers and students at Keats have had a wonderful Dragon Boat Festival.