Being a part of a buzzing multicultural community in Cambridge, we would like to build up links with other ethnic groups – and share our experiences. We may face similar challenges, and it would be mutually beneficial to find out about the ways we tackle them, whilst organising joint events and festival would give us all a powerful positive charge.
Last Saturday, 24th February, we welcomed guests from Cambridge Chinese community and the Chinese school who came to help us celebrate Chinese New Year together.
Children from the Chinese school performed some very impressive dances, tai-chi and kung fu masters and their group also showed a few intriguing dances and movements involving people from the audience. Mother of a Russian School student, Vera Evstafyeva, led a balloon-decorating workshop for children – who painted Chinese characters on the balloons, corresponding to their birth years.
A friend of our school, artist Natasha Sutta, who had lived for 15 years in Taiwan, and speaks Mandarin, ran a Chinese calligraphy master-class, telling the children about Chinese New year traditions and ways of painting.
Please note the picture, where two little Chinese girls are trying to find Russian Cyrillic words in the word search puzzle, which are the names of 12 animals forming the 12-year Chinese calendar. What a great example of cultural interchange!