Chinese Cultural Day at Balwyn Primary School
Delivering a day of teaching the topic Chinese Folding Fans to 5 groups of grade 5/6 students made me want to reflect some stuff today. It was an opportunity through an acquaintance from my uni days, we were a part of a uni musical production then, and he is now in the wedding industry as well as an educator. He told me about Funese, a cultural education program that he was a part of, where the work would involve educating primary school students with Chinese culture in a creative and fun way. I took interest almost instantly.
I love being an ambassador for my own culture. Born in Shanghai of China and moved to Melbourne at the age of 10, I am a Chinese Australian. I have the values, deep understanding of the Chinese culture but I also value the Australian way of doing things, and feel that my 'universe' is diverse and versatile. I've been asked the curious questions of "what language do you think in? And what language are your dreams in?" to determine which language is my dominant one. Well as I'm typing this post, I am thinking in English. But it really comes down to how I feel at that point in time, or which language feels more familiar to express a certain feeling or thought. I can definitely express myself better in English, because I've learnt to be expressive in Australia, under the Australian education system, with English speaking friends. But when I speak to my parents, or when I have translation jobs, I have think in both languages, so I have developed my vocabulary from there. I know that people value me for who I am because I posses the goods from both cultures, but I am not perfect either, so sometimes I am "too Chinese" or "too Aussie" for some people. BUT, even so, I choose to be me because I know otherwise it's too hard.
Breaking the barrier between two cultures can be tough though, due to the lack of understanding or perhaps stubbornness. A cultural day at school like this one made me think that breaking barriers is now more possible than ever before. Cultural days encourages the children to have an experience with a piece of culture, they get to see, feel, touch and breathe in the culture; something that was not available to me when I was their age. Instead of reading about something, they get to do; and it is all done in a safe environment with positive reinforcements. No one was allowed to bring anyone down.
When designing the program, we wanted to make it fun, and interactive. Sometimes it meant that modifications were made to the original craft and culture, but it would mean that it would be easier to absorb for the children or friendly to learn. If this experience is something they’d share with others then I would say that I've done my job.And if this day has helped them realise that they can be an ambassador for their culture(s) or they can connect what they love and what they know together to make a living, then that's a cherry on top!
So children get to have cultural days at school, are there any other ways to be exposed to culture? Well how about going to an authentic restaurant? We are quite lucky to get a really good variety of cultural cuisines that are authentic. And performing arts, international films, travelling with a tour guide all would aid the learning of cultures. There are so much to learn about the Chinese culture itself, with 22 provinces and 55 ethnic groups (aka. minorities), China is a massive hub for variation of folk, art, food and traditions etc. I am still learning about China, which is why when I get to do things like this, I get to reinforce my knowledge and learn new things too!
I was also reflecting on how my learnings from the Lessac 3 weeks Australian Intensive at NIDA was completely applied to my day today. After teaching five classes of 30 students, I didn't feel strain to my vocal chords nor did I feel tired like I would before I knew the Lessac approach. I am so grateful for it, the training has really paid off.
This is what happens when your skills and interests align, and the people that you meet along the way are precious. Without me realising, I have been a cross culture ambassador all along, but I am not alone, and never will be.
x N