The Chinese New Year is coming within a few days. Some UIC staff, especially foreign faculty members, unlike the previous holidays, cannot travel home due to the pandemic. What are their plans during the holiday?
Dr Thomas Jack Huggins: Cycling in Zhuhai
Originally from New Zealand, Assistant Professor of Applied Psychology Dr Thomas Huggins will spend Chinese New Year in Zhuhai for the first time this year. Joining UIC in February 2020, Dr Huggins soon fell in love with Zhuhai, the beautiful coastal city.
Dr Thomas Huggins likes cycling with his wife in Zhuhai
During his free time, Dr Huggins likes cycling down Qinglyu Road from Tangjia to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge with his wife. He said, "I am looking forward to exploring a few more corners of this beautiful city with my wife and friends!"
Last year, Dr Huggins spent the Chinese New Year holiday in Mexico with his family. This year, he plans to study Chinese, catch up on reading, and probably sneak in a little bit of data analysis and other research. He might also make Chinese foods with his wife and invite friends to taste them. Dr Huggins says that his wife cooks a delicious hot pot, which she learnt from a Chinese friend. His favourite Chinese foods are Sichuan-style hot pot and stir-fried rice noodles.
Rebecca Levin: Preparing for HSK3
Rebecca Levin is from the USA and is at UIC as an intern coordinator of the English Language Centre (ELC). This will be her second year to spend Chinese New Year in Zhuhai. She plans to keep studying Chinese, as she will take Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi 3 (HSK3) by the end of the academic year.
Her college has a partnership with UIC, so she went to an informational session about the intern programme here when she was a senior. Wanting to take a chance to get to see more of the world and thought China was an excellent place to start, she came to work at UIC two years ago.
Before she came to Zhuhai, Rebecca didn't know any Chinese. She learned Chinese through the Chinese Language and Culture Centre (CLC) classes, self-study, and interactions on the streets. "I think it's important to make at least an effort to learn the local language wherever you are, both for your own ease of integration and also as a matter of respect for the area. It certainly hasn't been easy, but it's rewarding when I can communicate with people."
Rebecca learns to play Guqin in UIC
Besides Chinese, Rebecca also learned Guqin in UIC. She is even a member of the UIC Nan Hai Qing Yin Guqin Interest Club. Rebecca is grateful to the club's teachers and students, "They were nice enough to offer an English-language section for interns!" Now she is proficient in playing the two Guqin pieces "Xian Weng Cao" and "Qiu Feng Ci".
Rebecca was in Zhuhai for Chinese New Year last year and was invited to a colleague's apartment to hang the red wish posters and eat dinner with their family. She is also looking forward to the Chinese New Year this year.
Rowan McCaffery: A bite of Tangjia
Rowan McCaffery from the UK is now a Lecturer at ELC. She attended UIC as an exchange student in 2017 and joined UIC as a foreign in 2018.
Rowan (left) visits a temple with friends in Zhuhai
Rowan loves walking around Tangjia, especially the old town because there are many charming snack shops and alleyways to walk around. "Recently, I have bumped into a group of painters and also a group of young children learning about the nature of the small mountain. I sometimes speak to the painters, and I joined the group of young children and spoke to the teacher about the area. It was enjoyable and special."
This is Rowan's second time spending Chinese New Year in Zhuhai. This vacation she plans to relax -- going on walks around the neighbourhood, going to the malls, cooking and baking food with her friends. Also, Rowan has a goal of reading lots of books during the vacation, and she has already finished four books in two weeks. She has even learned to play mahjong last year, and she will continue to play it with friends during the holiday. "It is a nice calming past time for us, and I think learning more games would be so much fun!"
Karentina Albin: Learning to make dumplings
Having lived in China for eight years, ELC lecturer Karentina (Tina) Albin from Minnesota in the US has spent her Chinese New Year holidays mostly in Zhuhai and once in China's Northeast region. She not only started her career at Zhuhai but also her family. Her husband is from Bayan County in Heilongjiang province. For the coming Chinese New Year holiday this year, Tina has bought red socks and pasted the Spring Festival couplets. She also plans to learn to make dumplings from her mother-in-law and make dumplings for her husband.
Tina loves cycling and climbing mountains as well as exploring the different parks in Zhuhai. She explained that it had been two years since she had left the US. She misses her family and hopes to meet them as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
Dr Fernando Martin Pastor: Enjoying music, books and beach
Acting Programme Director of Music Performance Programme, Dr Fernando Martin Pastor, said that this would be his first time celebrating the Chinese New Year in Zhuhai. He joined UIC in August 2019.
Fernando particularly enjoyed the beautiful autumn in Zhuhai. He said winter here is much warmer than where he comes from in Spain. He plans to stay home for the winter holiday, read and compose good music with some occasional visits to Zhuhai's seaside.
At the moment, Fernando is writing a short piano study. He is also reading a book called Numbers in the Dark by Italo Calvino. It is a set of short fictional stories written by this contemporary classic of European literature whose books are compulsory for primary school children in Italy. He said he loves Italo Calvino because the author can create stories by mixing mathematical or scientific concepts, with poetry and humour. Fernando believes that combining these concepts are perhaps the three most challenging areas of human creativity.
From MPRO
Reporters: Zhang Fan, Covee Wang
Editors: Samuel Burgess, Deen He
