Golden pigs bring blessings; colorful flowers welcome the spring. On February 2nd, people in Moncton observed the grand opening of the Chinese New Year Gala. CINB sponsored and participated in it. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Health of the Federal Government, Ernie Steeves, Minister of Finance of NB Government, Cathy Rogers, MLA for Moncton South, Dawn Arnold, Mayor of Moncton, Yvon Lapierre, Mayor of Dieppe，Ann Seamans, Mayor of Riverview, Gregg Ingersoll, Superintendent of the Anglophone East School District, principals of program participating schools, together with the local Chinese-Canadians, celebrated the Chinese New Year.

The celebration is divided into two stages: the garden party and the performance. The garden tour starts at noon. There are various stalls on both sides of the church corridor, such as Chinese chess, shuttlecock, couplets and shadow play… Various Chinese traditional cultural projects attract audience to explore them. The crowds are bustling and lively. The exhibition booth of CINB displays tea art, shuttlecock, Chinese chess, chopstick games and so on. No matter who they are, the white-haired elderly or the toddlers, when they pass by, they would stop to appreciate a cup of tea, or learn to play chess, or challenge chopsticks to clamp table tennis. If they make it they cheer for success. In addition, the special photo wall area takes month as the axis to review and display the work of Confucius Institute in 2018, which vividly narrates the achievements of teaching and activities of CINB with rich and detailed pictures.

The New Year Gala begins at 4 p.m. Ten students from Rexton Elementary School and Eleanor W. Graham Middle School, ten students from Riverview East School and Riverview High School in East School District, under the leadership of Liang Jiayi and Wang Jingli, present a wonderful program Huo Yuanjia. The program takes Jay Chou's homonymous repertoire as the background music and martial arts performance as the main line by combining popular hip-hop dance, cheerleading and Peking Opera singing, which creatively shows the charm of martial arts, the tolerance and intercommunication of Canadian multiculturalism through the collision of Chinese and Western cultures and the final harmonious dance. The program was originally arranged by volunteer teacher Liang Jiayi, with the vigorous support of Liu Xiaowei, a Chinese teacher, and Xu Mengke, a volunteer teacher. After nearly a month of rehearsal and preparation by the two school districts, the Chinese Wushu is finally performed exquisitely by the witty and lovely Western faces, which injects the factors of multi-culture into the New Year Gala, pushes the atmosphere of the party to a climax and conquers the audience.

In his speech, the director of Education Bureau of East School District points out that, as the first Education Bureau to offer Chinese courses, he thanks director Teng Jing for opening the first Chinese class in Moncton in 2007. After years of hard work, it has developed from 14 students at that time to more than 6,000 people in the whole province, and the Chinese syllabus has been successfully incorporated into the education system of New Brunswick. While congratulating, he thanks the Confucius Institute for bringing opportunities for NB to learn from the world, and thanks the Chinese for bringing a variety of cultures.

The success of CI performance cannot be achieved without the support of all sides. Students who come a long way from Rexton of the North School District, , are quite "new" as the school just started Chinese language course in 2018. The principal and parents accompanied them from the training stage. On the day of the performance, two children have got fever, but they still insist on performing. Riverview East School is a new member of the old school district. Mr. Roger, the principal, specially arranges classrooms and time for students to rehearse. He often observes the rehearsal and encourages students.

Local teachers and parents in the teaching sites of Confucius Institute have been supporting, and many alumni of CI also come happily, including Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, Daniel, a Chinese class student at Monckton University, and his family, Eric and his wife, Erica, Audree, etc. They all want to take this opportunity to have a closer contact with Chinese culture and convey their New Year blessings to CI. Song Peiyun, a student of CI, won the first prize in the Chinese Classical Poetry Reading Competition of Canadian "Confucius Institute Cup", also came to the event. Dai Zunfeng, the Chinese director, presented her a certificate and the prize. CINB has won unanimous praise from everyone. They believe that the whole event not only demonstrates the high level of professionalism of CINB teachers, but also embodies the role of CINB in the cultural exchanges between China and Canada, and spreads them on the fertile soil of multiculturalism. It has also witnessed the bloom of Chinese culture in an exotic land.

中西同聚别样辞旧迎新 武术洋娃齐贺猪年大吉

      金猪献瑞，百花迎春，2月2日，新省孔子学院赞助并参与的大蒙克顿华人春节晚会隆重举行。加拿大联邦国会议员杰内特.佩蒂帕.泰勒（Ginette Petitpas Taylor），新省财政厅长厄内.斯蒂福斯（Ernie Steeves），新省议员凯西.罗杰斯（Cathy Rogers），蒙克顿市长道恩.阿诺德（Dawn Arnold）, 迪亚普市长伊万.莱皮尔（Yvon Lapierre），河景市长安.司满思（Ann Seamans），东部学区教育局局长格莱格.英格索尔（Gregg Ingersoll），孔院节目参演学校校长及学生家长，同当地华人一道观看演出，同庆中国新年。
本次庆祝活动设为庙会游园和节目表演两个阶段。游园活动从中午12点开始。教堂长廊两侧摆放了各种摊位，象棋、毽子、对联、皮影……各种中国传统文化项目吸引着观众前来探寻，人群熙攘，热闹非凡。孔院展台设有茶艺、毽子、中国象棋、筷子游戏等项目，上至白发老人，下至学步孩童，路过孔院展台都要驻足一探，或欣赏茶艺细品一杯香醇，或学习象棋执子一试身手，或挑战筷子夹乒乓球为成功欢呼雀跃。除此之外，特设照片墙区域以月份为轴线回顾展示孔院2018年的工作，用丰富详实的图片形象地讲述了新省孔院的教学和活动成果。
      下午4点春晚正式开始，来自北部学区雷斯顿小学 (Rexton Elementary School)、伊利格莱姆中学 (Eleanor W. Graham Middle School) 的十名学生，和东部学区东河景学校（Riverview East School）、河景高中(Riverview High School)的十名学生，在孔院教师梁嘉怡和王静丽的带领下，一并为大家献上了精彩节目《霍元甲》。节目以周杰伦同名曲目为背景音乐，以武术表演为主线，融合了流行街舞、啦啦操和京剧唱腔等内容，其创意是通过中西文化的碰撞却最终和谐共舞的形式，来展现武术的魅力及加拿大多元文化的包容与互通。节目由志愿者教师梁嘉怡的创意编排，得到了汉语教师刘晓唯和志愿者教师许梦可的大力配合，经过近一个月两个学区通力合作的排练与筹备，最终俏皮可爱的西方面孔用精湛的表演舞出了中华武术的气势，为春晚注入了多元文化交融的因子，将晚会氛围推向高潮，征服了全场观众。
      东部学区教育局局长在致辞中指出，作为第一个开设汉语课程的教育局，他感谢滕菁院长2007年在蒙克顿开设了第一个中文班，经过多年的耕耘，已从当时的14个学生发展到现在全省6000多人，并且中文大纲已经成功纳入新省的教育体系。对此表示祝贺的同时，他感谢孔子学院为新省带来了向世界学习的机会，感谢华人为新省带来了多姿多彩的多元文化。
      孔院本次演出的大获成功离不开各方的通力支持。远道而来的北部学区的雷斯顿（Rexton），作为18年刚刚开设汉语课程的“新人”，从训练阶段起校长、家长便全程陪同，演出当天有两个孩子发烧，但是还坚持带病上阵。东河景学校（Riverview East School）是老学区中的新成员，校长罗杰（Roger）先生特意安排专门的教室和时间供学生排练，并时常观看训练，鼓励学生。
      孔子学院所在教学点的当地老师、学生家长纷纷“捧场”，众多孔院校友也欣然前来，如安德森夫妇（Anderson）、苏大夫夫妇、蒙克顿大学汉语班学生丹宁（Daniel）一家、艾瑞克夫妇（Eric）、艾瑞卡（Erica）、奥德丽（Audree）等，都希望借此机会与中国文化来一次更亲密的接触，同时也向孔院表达春节祝福。孔院学生宋佩昀在加拿大“孔子学院杯”中国古典诗词诵读大赛中获得一等奖，也来到活动现场，中方院长代尊峰为她颁发了证书和奖金。从游园安排到节目演出，新省孔院都获得大家的一致好评，他们认为整个活动不仅展示了孔院教师高水平的专业素养，更体现了孔子学院在中外文化交流中的桥梁作用，在多元文化的沃土上做播撒中加情的使者，同时也见证着中华文化在异国土地的绽放。