Zaheer's Spring Festival
Ben Ho
GUANGZHOU-On the Chinese New Year Day of 2021, the International Students' Apartment of South China Normal University was like a boiling pot of delicacies. Overseas students have spent some quality time during this recent Spring Festival as they experienced typical Chinese celebratory activities with teachers and classmates who have tried to help them feel at home while far from family.
Overseas students were busy in the public kitchen, preparing cuisine crossover of Chinese and foreign food for the New Year, and they had a prosperous holiday without leaving campus. Pakistani sauce, Nepalese curry powder, Sichuan pepper powder, Hunan chili oil, such a combination of recipes would have shook up their taste buds， while the overseas students stuck to welcome the new year this way.
Abbas Zaheer, a handsome young man from northern Pakistan, is a graduate student majoring in Geographic Information System at the College of Geographic Sciences, South China Normal University. Posting a Chinese character "fu" onto the dormitory door, which means good fortune, Zaheer tried to pass on Chinese customs to classmates. He came to Guangzhou in 2018 for studies and was immediately absorbed by such a mega-city in southern China. In his spare time, he has visited the old city site as well as the new one. He has witnessed with his own eyes that Guangzhou, a vibrant city with a blend of ancient and modern, is worthy of its reputation.
Zaheer told that since the epidemic spread last year, the university has taken close protection and care of overseas students. Teachers have taken initiative concern, anytime and anywhere, for those who needed help due to particular urgency or inconvenience in daily life. "When you're treated like family for long enough, it blurs the distinction between campus and home. Now I feel at home here." Zaheer said.
图文转载自羊城晚报