Guangming** correspondent in Vienna Fu Zhigang.
On January 26, the Chinese Embassy in Austria welcomed a group of special guests - nearly 100 teachers and students from two middle schools in Harbin, China and Vienna Neustadt, Austria. They and diplomats from the embassy gathered to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Dragon.
The two secondary schools are Harbin Fenghua High School and Vienna Neustadt Federal Grammar School. In 2019, the two schools became sister schools, and teachers and students visited each other regularly. This time, the second batch of young envoys from Fenghua Middle School visited Austria for study and exchange.
In 2009, Harbin and Wiener Neustadt became sister cities. From 2011 to 2019, a group of outstanding poor students from Harbin were invited to visit the Olympics every year, with more than 160 students participating.
Chinese Ambassador to Austria Qi Mei warmly welcomed Chinese and Austrian teachers and students to the museum. She said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Austria more than 50 years ago, the relations between the two countries have made great progress, and the foundation of China-Austria relations lies in the people, and the future lies in the youth.
Vienna Neustadt City Councillor Piribauer said that the close contact and exchanges between Austrian and Chinese teachers and students will effectively enhance mutual understanding, and the exchanges and cooperation between local and youth of the two countries will promote the evergreen and vibrant tree of friendship between the two sides.
At the event, teachers and students from China and Austria played a quiz game together to understand the national conditions of the two countries and the two cities. Together**"Talking about the Chinese New Year"** short film, learn about the legends and traditional customs of the Spring Festival; Singing, dancing, martial arts and other wonderful programs are performed, introducing their hometowns, schools and daily life.
Making dumplings by hand allowed the Austrian teachers and students to experience the fun of Chinese New Year customs. Several Austrian male students had never eaten dumplings before, and asked curiously, "Are dumplings delicious?" They also seriously asked reporters to rate their "works". "Dumplings have a variety of fillings, including vegetarian filling, meat filling, three-fresh filling, and so on. In China, it can be said that many families have their own unique fillings. You are lucky, the first time you ate dumplings was in the Chinese Embassy, and the embassy chef must have made the same filling. A few big boys laughed when they heard this, and they couldn't hide their expectations for dumplings.
The climax of the event was the singing of "Happy New Year Song" by Chinese and Austrian students. At first, everyone was a little restrained, and they didn't dare to let go of their voices. But gradually, the singing became louder and louder. At the climax of the song, a student danced to the beat of **, drawing a blessed heart on his chest. His emotions quickly infected the entire chorus team, just as the lyrics sang, the Chinese and Austrian students "sang and danced together", and the scene was so harmonious and joyful.
In between eating dumplings, the reporter chatted with the teachers and students of China and Austria. Speaking of the experience of studying and exchanging in Austria, several girls from Fenghua Middle School spoke one after another, either saying that the baroque architecture is exquisite, or that the robots in the museum are high-end, or that the Austrian students are lively and confident, and they are like "Spider-Man" in physical education class. A girl was particularly moved when she saw the "Harbin Square" in the new city of Austria.
Mr. Jonas Sands is the head of the exchange program at the Chenna Federal Grammar School. He told reporters that the project has been going smoothly since it began in 2019, with students showing strong interest and high participation. He believes that such exchanges are very meaningful. In the past, students learned about each other's countries only in books and news, but now face-to-face interactions bring both countries and peoples to life in the eyes of students, and this is the best way for students to learn about each other's countries and the world.
Flotz is a sophomore who is 1.9 meters tall. When asked about his impression of Chinese students, he said that when he met Chinese students in the school corridors, he felt that they were all very polite. In the past, he knew very little about China, but the arrival of Chinese students and the exchanges between the Sino-Austrian friendship schools made him understand China and Chinese culture, and developed a strong interest. "I see a lot of Harbin's exquisite** from the Internet, Harbin in winter is so beautiful! I have signed up for the exchange group to visit Harbin in April. I want to go to China, I want to see the Great Wall, I want to go to Harbin. ”
The event was about to end, but everyone didn't want to leave, hugged each other on the embassy stairs, and took group photos one after another. The seeds of friendship have been planted and will flourish and bear fruit.
Vienna, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) --
Bright**" 2024-01-29 12th edition).