SPECIAL CEILIDH
Bachelor of hospitality and tourism management program students host event
CBU students host Christmas ceilidh with a difference.
The sold-out Chinese and Korean Christmas Ceilidh that took place at Cape Breton University on Thursday was a success for the students who put the event together.
Students enrolled in the bachelor of hospitality and tourism management program put the event together.
The idea for the ceilidh came from the class wanting to celebrate the three cultures — Chinese, Korean and Canadian — that are involved in the program. Chenyi Wu, 21, a student from China in his second year with the program, said having an event to showcase multiple cultures is a great way for people to learn more about people and their heritage.
“I think it’s very important for us to mix different cultures because people should study different things like culture and they can learn about different countries and what they do and what they eat and it helps for them to communicate with each other. I think it’s good for people to be like a big family,” said Wu, who added that he was nervous about the event but knew that his class was ready to handle whatever came their way.
“I’m nervous and excited. We hope our event can be excellent, but if our staff makes a mistake or not it’s OK because we prepared 100 per cent and we want to do the best we can.”
Another student enrolled in the program who helped keep the event running smoothly was Huiying Luo, from China. She said she was surprised the public showed such an interest in the ceilidh.
“This is my first time to hold a big event and I can’t believe we sold out all of the tickets — almost 180 — so I see people enjoying the event and they like it. People seem to like to experience different cultures.”
The ceilidh did have its challenges, including there being more than 20 students who all had equal roles in planning the event.
“It’s busy and usually when you run an event for one night you don’t have 26 event managers but everybody had to feel like they were part of the event
and it’s challenging to have so many people run an event but they can’t learn if they don’t do that,” said Jennifer Currie, instructor for the bachelor of hospitality and tourism management class that hosted Thursday’s ceilidh.
During the event there were Cape Breton musicians, a Chinese folk singer, a Korean opera performer and a traditional Chinese folk dancer. The ceilidh also featured traditional Chinese and Korean food as well as a special alcohol list and a Chinese tea.