Southern Utah University International Affairs hosted the Chinese Language and Arts Spring Festival Celebration on April 15. The event took place at the Greenshow Commons at the Shakespeare Center, and attendees brought blankets and lawn chairs to sit on the grass and enjoy the show.
The event, which celebrated the Chinese language and culture, featured musical performances, dancers and a poetry reading. Student performers came from Chinese programs not only at SUU but also Cedar High School, Canyon View Middle School and Cedar Elementary School.
Jacob Ng, the executive director of International Recruitment, opened the celebration with a short speech.
“As the world has become more and more connected and globalized, we encourage students to learn other languages like Chinese,” Ng said. “Today, we celebrate the Chinese language and these students who come together to learn it.”
The performances themselves ranged from the Canyon View Chinese One class’s rendition of “对不起，我的中文不好” — “Sorry, My Chinese Not Good” — to two dual immersion elementary students’ song about tigers.
The Chinese 1020 SUU students sang and danced, and the Chinese 2020 students recited spoken-word poetry.
A class from Cedar High School was even accompanied by a student wearing a panda costume during their performance.
In between performances, International Affairs staff gave short remarks about the Chinese language program and the students who are a part of it. Dean Mary Pearson congratulated the program and the International Affairs office for their almost 300 students attending SUU from China.
Dr. Vivian Jiang, a Chinese language professor who is returning to China after this semester, also gave touching remarks. Jiang has been teaching for SUU for three years.
“I love Cedar City as much as I love my home, and that is all because of the people here,” Jiang said. “I believe a new language opens a new window through which to see the world, and I hope my students will one day come to see it the same way.”
Story by: Aspen English
life@suunews.net
Photos courtesy of Aspen English
