Students and Chinese Teachers of Confucius Institute at University of Latvia Celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival
On the evening of September 14th, after the language lessons had finished in the Advanced Class, 2 pre-teenager sisters of advanced level were eager asking about their culture lesson. They were guessing if it is about the Mid-Autumn Festival. Class began and the answer revealed—Yes! The Chinese teacher began the class by introducing the tradition of Mid-Autumn Festival, following by the story of Hou Yi and Chang’ E. Students were fascinated by the mythical yet romantic story and answered the teacher’s question with great interest. After Q&A section, beautiful melody of “May we all be blessed with longevity” were played, and a singing match was held. Appreciating the mood cakes while singing Chinese songs, the classroom was filled with joy.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival night in the Beginner’s Class, the Chinese introduced the pronunciation of “üe” and the character “月” to start the culture corner, following by the appreciation of the poetry “In the Silence of Night”. The teacher and students discussed the imagery of moon under different cultural backgrounds. The teacher then read the famous ci “Prelude to water melody—When is the moon clear and bright” and demonstrated the sand painting video “Mid-Autumn” to the students. Students were told the story of the writer Su Shi and his romantic writing style. Accompanied by moon cakes and Song Ci, students were immersed into a strong festival atmosphere.
“Do it together, do it together, eating yue bing and do it together!” I t was very active when kids did finger exercise with the Chinese teacher. The kids were so curious that what was “yue bing”. Then the teacher introduced Mid-Autumn Festival through a video, the kids answered the questions from the teacher actively. One student was so exciting when she knew that “yue bing” is moon cake. The teacher wrote some Pinyin of vocabulary about Mid-Autumn Festival on the whiteboard and students took notes carefully. The teacher then introduced the different fillings in moon cake, making the kids drooling with eagerness. Then the teacher told the story about Chang’ E to kids and let them appreciate the ci poem “Prelude to water melody”. After appreciating, students expressed that they really wanted to learn this poem. At last, the teacher took today’s surprise—the moon cake out and tasted with students. What a delighted Mid-Autumn Festival everyone spent in the class!
