On the afternoon of June 6, the college and Huangjia Community of Weizhou Road Street, Kuiwen District jointly carried out the Dragon Boat Festival special activity of “College-local joint construction to welcome the Dragon Boat Festival, and the strong affection of Zongzi warms the hearts of the people”. 21 international students from Ghana, Russia, Pakistan and other countries came to the Jinnianhua Elderly Care Service Center of Huangjia Community to participate in the activity.
At the beginning of the activity, the teacher introduced the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, and let the international students understand a series of Dragon Boat Festival activities and customs such as dragon boat racing, inserting mugwort, making Zongzi, and fumigating mugwort, learn ancient poems related to the Dragon Boat Festival, and understand Chinese traditional culture and folk customs. Then, the international students brought wonderful programs to the elderly in the community: Ghanaian students from the college’s “Future Africa” project sang the Chinese folk song “Jasmine Flower” in unison and performed African drums; international students from Russia sang the familiar Russian song “Katyusha” for everyone; African students’ songs and dances “Afro Dance” and “Sanctuary” pushed the atmosphere to a climax. Finally, the international students and the elderly in the community made zongzi together, folded zongzi leaves, scooped glutinous rice, added red dates, and wrapped zongzi threads. They experienced the fun of making zongzi together and wished each other a happy Dragon Boat Festival. The atmosphere at the event was warm and joyful, filled with laughter and a strong festive atmosphere. After the event, the teachers and students of the college delivered zongzi to the elderly in the community and sent blessings for the Dragon Boat Festival.
Serve the community, respect the elderly, and unite the nation as one family. Through the development of this special event jointly built by the school and the local government to welcome the Dragon Boat Festival, the international students of the college have further understood the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival culture, felt the cultural atmosphere of loving and respecting the elderly and the enthusiasm and warmth from a foreign country. This event is also a vivid manifestation of the college’s international students going deep into the community and serving Weifang’s urban construction. The college will continue to innovate the “four-in-one” talent training model for international students in China, create a rich and colorful “second classroom” for international students, and carry out both in-class and extracurricular activities to cultivate international talents who can speak language, understand technology, and can integrate. (Contributed by Fu Zheng and Liu Yang).
