SCRANTON — The Scranton Chinese School welcomed the Year of the Pig which, according to Chinese culture, is the year of great wealth and prosperity. Students and parents enjoyed an abundance of food, traditions and performances during the school’s Chinese New Year Festival held at Brennan Hall at The University of Scranton on Feb. 17.
Festival-goers enjoyed several main dishes, including fried rice, dim sum and egg rolls cooked by The University of Scranton Dining Services. Families also brought special homemade dishes to share their culture. Participants also watched a Youtube video showing Chinese New Year family traditions that taught them the customs that rural China performs to ring in the new year, such as house decorating and a big family dinner. People at the festival also saw Power Point slides that showed the origins and changes of Chinese New Year celebrations, Chinese New Year greetings, decorations and food.
The festival also had performances of music and poem recitations by students of the Scranton Chinese School. The class of Shu Qiu, who teaches young children, recited a poem called “Bask in the Sun.” Qiu co-hosts the event with Dr. David White, who is not only a teacher at The University of Scranton and Marywood University, but also a student of the Chinese language school at The University of Scranton.
“It’s wonderful,” he said about the festival. “It’s good for all of the families.”
White’s son Winston demonstrated the martial arts form of Chinese gongfu.
A video showed Scranton Chinese School’s students Tom Wagner Jr. and his brother Robert reciting poems, songs and renditions.
“It’s nice that Scranton supports the Chinese community,” said their father Tom Wagner, Sr.
Students of Jinghan Cai’s class, Fiona Weng and her brother Ryan and Rachel Bonebrake and her brother Jonathan performed on their recorders a song called “Two Tigers and Laughter in the Sea” from the Chinese martial arts TV series “The Swordsman.” They were accompanied by Jonathan Bonebrake (Rachel and Jonathan’s father) and Dr. Carsten Bjornstad on guitar. Bjornstad also performed piano solos of “Kanding Love Song” and “Weave a Basket of Flowers,” both arranged by Zhang Zhao, a music teacher at Lutheran Academy in Scranton and a student in Cai’s class.
“I enjoy everything Chinese,” he said.
Saige Kleyman, a student of Steven Guanqiao Ma at the Scranton Chinese School, performed Katy Perry’s “Firework” on the cello and Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Nutcracker” on the flute. Her sister Coral Kleyman, a student of Bella Zhu’s class, played “The Lotus Picking Song” on the violin.
Saige also goes to Marywood University for its string project, learning violin and cello. She enjoys Chinese New Year and the festival.
“I love it,” she said. “It’s one of my favorite times of the year.”
