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International students take a group photo with the kids at Tao House in Yixing on Feb 9.[Photo by Fang Luofan] |
Assembling lanterns and creating Chinese New Year wall-paintings, international students studying at Jiangnan University joined the kids at Tao House in Yixing on Feb 9 to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival.
“We made it! I thought this would be something that required professional skill. However, it turned out to be quite simple and it was easy to get the pieces to fit together. ” said Ayrana Kashtak from Russia, who assembled a lantern with the children within 10 minutes.
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Ayrana Kashtak (at the back in the left row) and children in her group show off their lantern.[Photo by Fang Luofan] |
For the first activity, the foreigners didn’t break a sweat. It was when they followed the children to paint different gods for the New Year, did they suddenly face a challenge.
“I’ve never tried to paint on a wall before, and I’m not familiar with the gods in Chinese culture. I really don’t know where to start” said Oul Somneang from Cambodia.
Under the guidance and encouragement of teachers from the Far and Afield Art Studio based in Suzhou, the three expats picked up their paint brushes and got to work.
“Inspired by artist Wen Na’s unique way of illustrating the different gods and fairies, we decided to organize this wall-painting activity to help the kids experience New Year paintings and add to the festive feeling of Spring Festival,” said Hu Lingqiao, an art teacher from the Far and Afield Art Studio.
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International students studying at Jiangnan University show off their hard work.[Photo by Pan Qi] |
