JINGDOU Staff 2020 New Year Party
2020-01-13

It was January 11, 2020 and the Christmas decorations were gradually being removed from the surrounding streets and shop windows signifying an end to the festivities. However, at Jingdou Language Centre, we had one more celebration to enjoy - our annual Christmas/New Year staff party.

In the week before the party, all the staff who had been out of town spending Christmas with family and friends overseas had made their return, with some still recovering from a touch of jetlag. The evening’s activities began with a meeting with Management and teachers. This resulted in recalling past reunions and some first-time greetings for our new staff additions to the Jingdou family.

This meeting was a good chance for everyone to catch up and talk about their Christmas activities. The fact that Jingdou is a very multicultural language centre, with staff members coming from a number of different countries, resulted in an interesting insight into how Christmas is celebrated differently around the world. We came to a close with people sharing their experiences in the classes, discussing and suggesting new ideas and activities that could be used for future lessons.

Now that the meeting was finished, our celebration could begin. We began the festivities by moving to the largest room at Jingdou, for more space. We quickly divided into two teams to play adult fun games. The first game involved each team coming up with as many words as possible using the same letters found in the words ‘Happy New Year.’ While both teams did well, each coming up with a number of interesting words, there can only be one winner. The second and final game was an interesting take on the game charades. The members of each team stood in a line and took turns to act out a word given to the 1st person until the final person had to guess what it was. It was hilarious to see how the actions changed and became farther from the original word. A team that was able to guess the word being acted brought cheers and encouraging team spirit… and for all of us, it was great fun.

After the games, it was time for dinner - a pot luck selection. Everyone contributed to the feast which resulted in some great alternative choices. We all enjoyed the dishes everyone brought.

The final activity of the night was to celebrate this month’s birthdays. A monthly tradition at Jingdou is to have a small gathering to commemorate all teachers and staff’s the birthdays that have or will take place in that month.

Once the celebrations had come to a close, it was time to tidy up, which we all helped with, as we learned that this is also our home, and we would like to care for it as well. With everyone helping, it was quite an easy job. After the tidying was done, we had our group photo near the Jingdou logo and we were grateful as we said farewell to each one, before heading home, each of us having had a fantastic time.