Teacher’s Day-cum-Mid Autumn Festival Carnival (31 Aug 2011)

  Set 1/40  

The mid autumn carnival-cum-teacher’s day celebration on 31 August was one of the best school events for me. It was an evening best remembered for its great assortment of fun events, sumptuous food and great party mood.

The student organisers had done a fantastic job by creating a celebratory carnival-like atmosphere. Almost overnight, the school’s newly minted outdoor sports complex was turned into a great carnival ground dotted with food stands, games stalls and throngs of eager adults and teenagers eager to soak in the festive air. What worked for me most were the lanterns and lion dances which gave a traditional Chinese feel to the whole event. It was indeed refreshing.

I participated in many games and watched many performances. My favourite game was The Gladiator. As a spectator, I enjoyed watching people getting ‘smacked’ and as a participant, I challenged my friend and was able to emerge victorious. ‘Dunk’ has shown me an epic moment when my classmate, anonymous, dunked our inimitable History teacher, Mr. Samuel Lim on his turn. Not surprisingly, Mr. Lim greeted him with opened arms and a not-so-happy face. But it was all done in good fun (at least I hope).

The ‘trampoline’ was rather lacking in excitement. ‘Hair spray’ was awesome as my friends would say. It was cheap and good. ‘Haunted house’ was a letdown though. The ‘ghosts’ were not very convincing for me but it was good try. The scary part were the shrieks heard from ‘customers’ miles away. The impersonation of teachers by the student councillors were side-splitting.

What is a party without dancing? Once again, our ‘resident school dancers’ wowed us with their smooth hip-hop moves. Even though I could not groove as well, it was sheer delight just watching my friends twist and turn their bodies to the beat of the music.

For the finale, we were given glow sticks and many could be seen flying as people threw them up in the air while teachers and students were singing. The carnival ended with showers of confetti – but no, it was not completely over yet until we get our Vice-Principal for Student Development Mr. Joseph Tan dunked. Crowds jettisoned towards the ‘dunk tent’. Mr. Tan was in a grave situation as scores of challengers lined up eagerly for a chance to do what they could not under normal circumstances. Mr. Tan was gamely dunked so many times that the challengers were allowed only one shot per turn. The carnival had truly reached its end when a fully soaked Mr. Tan left to change.

This carnival has shown me not just internationalism but also the strong bonds between teachers and students (many ‘old students’ of HCIS returned to visit their teachers and join in the fun). At first, I thought it was rather ‘schizophrenic’ to turn a Chinese cultural festival into a carnival.  But in the aftermath of the event, I realised what a special way to celebrate a special occasion!  Our teachers - that they are such a big part of us – through challenging times as well as good times.

By Yasuhiro Sun (Secondary 3 Resilience)

中秋节嘉年华小组义卖活动总结

我校于2011年8月31日举行的盛大的教师节与中秋节庆祝活动取得了圆满成功。本次活动以庆祝教师节与中秋节为主题，以尊师敬长，中秋团圆为线索，师生同台献艺，氛围融洽热烈，是我在华中国际学校学习生活中的一次美好而难忘的经历。

在华中国际学校的几年学习生活，我深深的感受到了老师们对我的关心，爱护和帮助，在我需要帮助的时候，他们总能够适时地出现，帮助我解决遇到的难题；在我彷徨地徘徊在真理的门外时，他们总是能够用合理恰当的方法将我引入知识的圣地；他们的指导使我渐入学习的佳境，掌握了学习的真谛。在这个特别的日子中，我也要真诚地说一句：老师，您辛苦了，谢谢您！

在本次活动中，我们带着一颗感恩的心协同老师们一起精心策划了很多有意义的节目，如，比赛剥柚子、投壶等，既符合庆祝中秋节的主题，又可以增进师生间的情谊，拉近师生间的距离，使教学相长得到更好的落实，师生间的关系更加融洽。在此，我也衷心地祝福全校的老师们节日快乐，工作顺利。

此外，本次活动也是由学校主办的一次欢庆中秋的活动，以嘉年华的形式向全校师生呈现了一个别开生面的聚会，在学习与工作之余得到了一个很好的放松机会，可以邀上三五知己来欢度这美好的节日，庆祝月圆人团圆的温暖气氛。

作为Pre-U1的学生，我有幸参加了本次嘉年华的筹备活动，我们在新落成的操场上搭建了一个个色彩缤纷的义卖小排档，向前来参加的全体嘉宾提供食物，游艺性的活动。在筹备的过程中，我们也在工作中学到了很多书本上学不到的知识。对于我们大多数人来说都是 “初初涉足商圈”，从零开始，从点子到策划，从文案到具体实践，从校内沟通到商业性谈判，这样不可多得的经历是值得我们珍惜的，也是我们在华中国际学校永生难忘的美好回忆，它将在我们的记忆中留下难忘的一页。与此同时，我们也学到了一些在社会交往中不可或缺的技巧，对我们也是一种特殊的锻炼，丰富了我们的思想和经历，可以帮助我们更好地适应社会的需要。在本次筹备活动中，我们得到了很大的乐趣和经验，也感谢辅导老师们所给予我们的机会，辅导与帮助。

By 孙畅
15/09/2011

Click here for Chinese article (Source: Lianhe Zabao, 7 Sep 2011).