2022 Lantern Festival Celebration for the Advanced Class of the Confucius Institute at the University of Latvia Held Smoothly
The beautiful moon fills the sky, and thousands of auspicious things fall into the world. At 3:30 pm on February 13, 2022 local time, the advanced class of the Confucius Institute at the University of Latvia held an online fellowship and Lantern Festival activity for the upcoming festival. In order to create an immersive festival culture and full Chinese communication environment for the students, Chinese teacher Tang Heng invited a Chinese friend Miss Ju as the “guest” of this event.
The activity is divided into three parts: “warm-up”, “knowledge” and “interaction”. At the beginning, it is during the Spring Festival holiday, teachers and students greeted each other and got to know each other. In the knowledge session, Teacher Tang shared the customs of the Lantern Festival with everyone, and introduced the meanings of the Chinese characters “元” and “宵”, so as to deepen the students’ understanding of the origin of this festival. Then came the much-anticipated “Guess the Lantern Riddles” session. After the students gradually mastered the tips and tricks of it, they shared their answers and ideas with everyone. While everyone’s enthusiasm was high, teacher Tang discussed with the students on topics such as “What are the differences between the festival customs in southern and northern China?”, “In Latvia, are there any festivals similar to the Chinese Spring Festival/Lantern Festival?” The teacher and Miss Ju also shared the festival customs in their hometowns of Guangxi and Shandong province respectively. In addition, this activity has set up a lively and interesting mini-game in the interactive session – “Drumming and Passing Flowers(a traditional Chinese folk game)”: Start from any number, if you encounter a multiple of three (including three), you must skip and say the next number; otherwise , you have to play the game of Truth or Dare. The students were gearing up for an intense “competition”. In the “Truth or Dare” session, teachers and students competed to challenge tongue twisters on the theme of Lantern Festival, exchanged their lives under the COVID-19 pandemic, chatted about the original intention and feelings of learning Chinese language, shared interesting facts about Chinese dialects etc. How lively the scene was!
The happy time is always short, and the pleasant interactive mini-games come to an end, leaving the teachers and students lingering around. At the end of the activity, teacher Tang invited everyone to get a good draw for themselves. While obtaining a good omen for the new year, teacher also expressed her best wishes to everyone. It is hoped that all the students in the Confucius Institute at the University of Latvia, will be healthy, prosperity and wealth, moving up and make more progress in 2022!
虎闹元宵——2022年拉脱维亚大学孔子学院本部高级班、高高级班线上联谊暨庆元宵活动
美月盈空，万千祥和落人间。当地时间2022年2月13日下午3点30分，拉脱维亚大学孔子学院本部高级班、高高级班趁着将至的元宵佳节，举办了一次线上联谊和元宵活动。为了给学生们打造一个沉浸式节日文化及全中文交流的环境，汉语教师汤蘅还特地邀请了一位中国朋友老鞠作为本次活动的“嘉宾”。
活动分为“热身”、“知识”、“互动”这三大部分。一开始，正逢春节假期，师生们在见面时作揖拜年、互相认识。知识环节，汤老师跟大家交流了元宵节的习俗，并介绍了汉字“元”、“宵”的含义，加深学生们对这一节日来源的了解。接着是备受期待的“猜灯谜”环节，学生们慢慢掌握了技巧后，纷纷与大家分享自己的答案和想法。趁着学生们热情高涨之时，汤老师围绕“中国南方和北方的节日习俗有何不同？”、“在拉脱维亚，有没有跟中国春节/元宵节相似的节日？”等话题与学生展开讨论，汤老师和老鞠也分享了各自家乡广西、山东的过节习俗。除此之外，本次活动在互动环节设置了生动有趣的小游戏——“击鼓传花”：从任意一个数字开始说，遇到3的倍数（包括3）就要跳过说下一个；否则，就要玩真心话大冒险（Truth or Dare）的游戏。学生们摩拳擦掌，开展了紧张激烈的“角逐”。“真心话大冒险”环节，老师和学生们争相地挑战元宵主题的绕口令、交流疫情下的生活百态、聊聊学习中文的初衷和感想、分享中国方言的趣事等等，场面好不热闹！
欢乐的时光总是短暂的，愉快的互动小游戏在师生们意犹未尽之时告一段落。活动的最后，汤老师让大家给自己抽一支“上上签”，为新的一年取得好兆头的同时，也寄托了对大家的美好祝愿。希望拉脱维亚大学孔子学院全体学生们，如“上上签”中所示，在2022年身体健康、家肥屋润、步步高升、鹏程万里！
