Usually the end of the school year is the busiest time for a secondary school student in Beijing to prepare for the upcoming final exams. Here at BHSFIC however, we were getting ready for the very first New Year party in our school’s history.
After intensive preparations, all students and faculty members were invited to attend the two-part event, which took place on Jan 1 in the student auditorium. Nancy Ren and I, both members of student counsil, hosted the show. We began the opening ceremony with a flashback to commemorate some unforgettable events in the past semester, such as the sports event, club fair and field trip.
The celebration went on with talented students from grade 10 and 11 performing on stage. These gifted performers shocked the audience with their amazing skills. Among the fusions of Chinese and exotic cultures, the glee club gave as an intriguing dance performance, two of our English teacher sang “Perfect” by Pink, girls from Dance Club performed an Indian dance, several tenth grade students performed traditional Chinese comedy, faculty members sang a New Year song and our choir sang “Castle in the Sky.”
Afterwards came the winning presentation of a student’s self-made movie. It tells a story of a girl who has overcame numerous obstacles to become a professional photographer for a prestigious fashion magazine. The video is available on Youku with English Subtitles. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjU4NDMzNDA4.html
Following the presentations came the second part of the evening; it was time to dance. The New Year Ball was the first official ball most of the students had attended. In preparation, students had been learning to dance the waltz during physical education period and finally, it was showtime. Dressed up in formal attire, everyone looked fresh and mature. Students stepped down to the dance floor with their partners. Boys were required to bring one kind of flower to give to their partner. Four pieces of Waltz music played and partners who felt like dancing were welcome to join. For the last segment of the evening, everyone danced to the music doing the “Bunny Jump,” a kind of dance that people jump from side to side.
The celebration came to a close when we, the hosts, announced the end of the show. Students who wanted to take photos with their friends were able to get their pictures within seconds thanks to the use of a Polaroid camera. All profits from the purchase of the pictures will contribute to future fundraising purposes.
Harry Liu, (Liu Yinhao), is a junior at the international campus affiliated with Beijing No.4 High School, a public high school in Beijing. He is the community outreach officer for the student’s council, the president of the photography club, the deputy president of the science and philosophy club, and the editor and photographer for his school newspaper. This summer he interned at Citibank, and he is their high school correspondent. Through his blog posts, he hopes to share unique and exciting experiences at Beijing No.4 High School International Campus.
The beijingkids student correspondent program gives high school students with an interest in writing and journalism a resource for guidance, feedback, and real-life training. If you are a student interested in becoming a beijingkids student correspondent, or you know a student who is, please contact School Editor yvetteferrari@beijing-kids.com
Photos courtesy of Ethan Sun
