Confucius Institute student Mitchell Bradford and his wife Wang Manrong (Arya Wang in English) made presentations about Chinese culture as well as did calligraphy with students at five schools as well as at the university and church he attended when they were visiting family and friends in the US over Chinese New Year.

The presentations included information, pictures, and stories from various areas in China, the food around the country, and what life is like for the couple as they teach, travel, and study in the PRC. The goal was to showcase just how diverse and beautiful China truly is. The couple presented to about 300 students in total ranging from kindergarten to college. Mitchell is from the southern US state of Arkansas and wanted to share his experiences abroad with children in his community at schools he studied or worked at in hopes of inspiring future travelers, explorers, and language lovers. “I graduated high school with 36 students in my grade. I want to let the students there know they can go anywhere and do anything even though they’re from a small town in the south as long as they work hard”, stated Mitchell.

It was the first time many of the students had heard the Chinese language and seen how it is written as well as the first time they were introduced to Chinese culture. They had many questions about life in the Middle Kingdom most of which were concerned with stereotypes which the pair were able to explain.“The best way to break a stereotype is to talk about”, said Arya. 

Sutdents also had a chance to try calligraphy. They wrote the character 福 which means luck and prosperity and is closely associated with Chinese New Year. Mitchell and Arya explained the meaning of the character to the students and let them practice it a few times before giving them a sheet of red paper with a dragon and phoenix on it for the final attempt. Each student took their 福 home with them along with some Chinese snacks. 

 “We owe many thanks to Confucius Institute of University of Nottingham (China) for their great support to this activity. 谢谢你们”, said the pair.

 

Published on 15 February 2019