CIRU’s Lecturer Graduates

Hanyang's graduation at CIRU
Hanyang's graduation at CIRU

On Tuesday 21 June, the Confucius Institute was buzzing with excitement and joy as they prepared to welcome guests for yet another special occasion. This time around, it was a gathering of friends and esteemed colleagues to celebrate the achievement of one of the Confucius Institute’s own: Ms Hanyang Zou!

Ms Zou joined the Confucius Institute at the beginning of this year, and she has thoroughly enjoyed her time here in Makhanda and in South Africa. However, this means that she was not able to be in China to attend her graduation ceremony at Jinan University. As a result, colleagues at the Confucius Institute at Rhodes University organised a graduation party to celebrate together!

Professor Patrice Mwepu, Dr Priscilla Boschoff and Ms Sasha-Lee Schafli all donned their academic regalia to make the experience more authentic and memorable. Students who were still present in Makhanda during this time of the exams also attended the event.

Professor Mwepu warmly congratulated Ms Zou's achievement and expressed how she should take pride in being celebrated: “You have a new family here at Rhodes University and we are wishing you all the best in the future as you aim even higher with your studies!”

Prof Liu Dexue congratulated Ms Zou and indicated that two celebrations were happening at the same time, one in China, and another one in South Africa.

Ms Zou obtained her Master’s degree in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language at Jinan University in Guangzhou (China). Thus, Rhodes University is very privileged to have her expertise in this field. When asked to say a few words, Ms Zou declared: “Thank you all for taking the time out of your day to celebrate with me; I hope I can make more memories while I am here at Rhodes.”

The guests had the opportunity to taste Chinese foods, and enjoy the Chinese music.

By Espérance Mwepu

Food served for the graduation party