While most of the Western world passed into the New Year on January 1st, their Eastern counterparts have only just rolled to the cusp of the transition. Because the Chinese calendar follows the delicate phases of the moon, this year’s Chinese New Year occured on Sunday January 23rd – the Year of the Dragon.

For the Chinese, every year is assigned to one of the twelve animals on the Chinese zodiac. Of all of the sprightly creatures, the dragon – a symbol of intense power and good fortune - is one of the most impressive, and it is said that those who are born in the Dragon years are deeply honored and respected by others.

As Katie Z and the SAC’s engaging performance at this Thursday’s assembly informed us, Chinese New Year is a celebration based on an old Chinese tale, in which a Chinese village sparked fire crackers and wore red in order to scare off a very threatening monster. Naturally, this particular acting role was assigned to Mr. Garvey, Deputy Head of School.  

As well as donning red and gold and gathering Chinese red packets, one of the most important traditions of Chinese New Year is the celebration of a meal with your family. For most students in Brentwood who celebrate Chinese New Year, however, their families are half the world away. I was prepared, as I have been for the last three years, to celebrate Chinese New Year by clutching onto my cellular device at an outrageous hour because of that oh-so-trivial fifteen hour time difference between Mill Bay and Hong Kong, trying to decipher the chatter of my family through the pesky static that comes with making an international call.

Yet, the Year of the Dragon was far too impressive to be greeted in such wistful, nostalgic fashion. With the excellent decision to incorporate Mandarin classes to Brentwood’s academic curriculum has come the addition of Ms. Fang Sun. Her integration into Brentwood’s talented faculty has been deeply appreciated by those who take her Mandarin courses; watching her single-handedly expand the exposure of the Chinese culture on campus has been as impressive as it is inspiring. She invited all of her students for a Dim Sum lunch on Sunday in Victoria – a sparkling jewel of an opportunity to drift briefly from the Brentwood bubble to chow down on some authentic Chinese cuisine.  

And that wasn’t the end of the Chinese celebration! To continue spreading the celebration, Ms. Sun took her students with her to assist in teaching the adorable grade ones and twos on Monday afternoon at Cowichan’s Bench Elementary School about Chinese New Year traditions. Within an hour, the children had crafted imitations of red and green firecrackers with glue and colored paper, learned the Chinese character for ‘spring’ and ‘double happiness’, sung along to a song written in Mandarin, and received traditional Red Packets full of candy and chocolate.

The celebrations came to an elegant close with the SAC’s delicious Chinese New Year dinner at Crooks Hall on Monday night. Decorated with splendid golden fans and decorative parasols, and the generous array of spring rolls, barbeque pork buns, fried rice and Chinese vegetables were nothing short of fantastic, and almost all were consumed.

We are, as a school, greatly indebted to the fantastic kitchen staff, Katie Z and SAC, and finally, Ms. Sun, for co-coordinating such a brilliant start to the Year of the Dragon.

Cherrie K


欢庆龙年

当整个世界在一月一日跨入新的一年的时候，东方的中国才刚进入新旧年的交替之际。因为根据农历的记载，今年的一月二十三日星期日才是中国新年的开始。

对于中国人来说，每一年都有一个不同的动物属象。十二年为一个轮回。而今年正好是龙年。中国人认为他们都是龙的传人， 因为龙是力量和富贵的象征。在龙年出生的人都会觉得很荣幸，并且也会比较容易得到他人的尊重。

正如Katie张和学生会的同学们在星期四的集会上所表演的神话故事，中国人庆祝新年的传统习俗始自于为了吓跑名叫年的怪兽（怪兽扮演者是Mr. Garvey）。传说中，每年的最后一天，也就是新年除夕，年都会出现且毁坏甚至毁灭人间事物。后来，人们在无意中发现年惧怕红色和炮竹燃放似的响声，所以每到除夕时，人们就在门窗上贴一些红色的窗花和对联；并且一定要放鞭炮。因为红色象征着吉祥，所以小孩子们都会在新年的时候得到红包。其中最重要的一个习俗就是，在除夕之夜全家人都会聚在一起合家团圆吃年夜饭。

然而，绝大多数Brentwood学生的家都不在本地，我们在新年之时无法与家人团圆一起庆祝新年。没关系，我们的中文老师，孙女士，做出了明知的决定。孙女士将中文学习与新年庆祝活动相结合，组织了一系列的校内校外活动，使学生们受到了很大的感染， 不仅学到了中国传统文化，也感受到了另一番与“家人”庆祝新年的意义。在除夕当天，孙女士邀请了她所有的学生，带着我们去中国城享用了一顿特色美味的茶点。不仅如此，在新年的第一天，孙女士又将课堂搬到校外，带着我们去到Bench小学与一、二年级的小朋友们一起联欢搞庆祝活动。在一个多小时的时间里，我们向小朋友们介绍了中国新年的传统习俗，与小朋友们一起制作了彩色的纸制鞭炮和红色的双喜字；最后，我们教小朋友们唱了一首中文的新年歌曲。

中国新年的庆祝活动在星期一晚上接近尾声。当晚，学校学生会为大家筹备了丰盛的中国美食，并将学校食堂装扮得喜气洋洋，充满了浓郁的节日气氛。大家在欢声笑语中渡过了一个很有意义的新年。
在此，我代表全校师生，向厨房工作人员和晚餐组织者Katie张以及学生会表示衷心的感谢！最后，让我们感谢孙女士对整个新年庆祝活动的统筹安排以及支持协作。我们大家辉煌地迎来了崭新的龙年！

Cherrie K and Ms. Sun