University of Szeged, Konfucius Institute Ahol tudás és szándék találkozik

SZTE Konfuciusz Intézet  --  News  --  CI NEWS ARCHIVES  --  2018

“Home is where the heart is.” My Spring Festival in Hungary.

Tavaszünnep

I have never thought that life would be so hectic. Before I even noticed it, I have been teaching Chinese at the Confucius Institute at the University of Szeged, Hungary for almost six months.

March 05, 2018


Tavaszünnep

In this peaceful little town, I counted the flakes of clouds at the end of summer, dusted off the ginkgo leaves in late autumn, and caressed the warm sun and the first snow in winter. Now that the Spring Festival is here, my Wechat Moment has already been filled with the joy of going home. In my Chinese lessons, I also began to introduce to my students the culture of Chinese New Year and the custom of reunion. “Home” is the word that I’ve heard spoken of most frequently.


Today was the New Year's Eve according to the Chinese lunar calendar. Since it was my first time spending Spring Festival in a foreign country, I woke up early in the morning. My cell phone had been beeping incessantly, receiving messages from friends and family members from far away. A song of Sodagreen’s whispered in my headphones: “Starry light, like suggestive eyes, keeps winking at me, beckoning me to go back home sooner, go back home sooner …" Putting on my new clothes, turning around and catching a glimpse of the birds outside, I trained my eyes to my bed and let them linger there. Going home was all that I would have wanted, I thought. Home, that is, however, far away it might be.


Tavaszünnep

Straightening my hair, gathering up my confused mind, breathing a waft of hot air onto the mirror, I wrote down the Chinese characters “Xinnian Hao” (Happy New Year). Then I took my well-prepared dish with me, and set off to the director's home for a potluck with my friends.

The door of the director's home had already been graced with spring couplets, decorated with Chinese knots. There was a jubilant, festive mood permeating the air. The Chairman and the Hungarian Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Szeged also came to share the joy with us. The president kindly prepared several red envelopes, greeted each teacher kindly which made us feel at home in a foreign land. The coffee table was full of all kinds of fruits and assorted snacks. We sat on the sofa, enjoyed our buffet, while eagerly awaiting the CCTV Spring Festival Gala.


Tavaszünnep

After the dinner, we gathered around the table and made dumplings together. While watching the Spring Festival Gala, we talked about the spring Festivals in our hometowns. We sang songs together and played the idiom solitaire. Looking back over the last six months, we shared some interesting experiences in teaching Chinese. The New Year of the Dog was coming, and everyone was looking forward to it.

Even though we were ten thousand miles from home, we do not feel lonely at all because we have got like-minded friends. As the saying goes, “Sing out loud and empty my bottle. Let the spring come and come with me home.” Last summer, we came here for the same reason. Today, we are reunited again, celebrating the Spring Festival, which every Chinese is unable to get around. The warmth of this moment reached the bottom of my heart. It made me feel at home.


Some people say, when the New Year is dawning, here comes the time for going back home and when we should be on our homeward journey . Others argue that one can only find the festive mood at home. But I’d like to declare, whenever we get together is a Nian; wherever the heart is is home.


Photography and the original report: Qianwen Chen

English translation: Feiya Suo

Edited by Lei Wang