We’re all in one big family, senores y senoritas
Hand-made dumplings, traditional Chinese garb and dancing, plus red envelopes and Spring Festival scrolls. All these may make you think you’re in big Chinese family gathering for the Spring Festival, except that all the people speak Spanish.
More than 30 people from the Spanish Corner, organized by Carla Horgan, Cao Enqi and Zhou Xinru, gathered at Feliz Restaurant on Jan 13 to learn about Chinese dumpling culture and how to make them. After making dumplings, they all joined in Latin dances, including the bachata, meringue and regueton.
“I enjoyed the dumpling activity a lot because I know it will help them learn about our culture in a constructive way. This takes them one step closer to the heart of Chinese culture. It’s so enriching,” said Cao, the main organizer of the event.
Amgalan Dashdezhidyin Gamboa, a half-Colombian, half-Mongolian man, came to Shenzhen a few months ago. The dumplings he made looked very much similar to those from Shaxian County in Fujian province.
“The dumplings I made are Mongolian. They are similar to the Chinese ones because the two countries are both Asian. But, in Mongolia we call it buuz. We have different types of buuz — one is like a flower and the other is the one I made,” said Dashdezhidyin.
“I started the Spanish Corner last July, mainly because I wanted to practice my Spanish. So I created a group to organize events to practice Spanish,” said Horgan from the United Kingdom, who now lives in Shenzhen and is learning Chinese.
The Spanish Corner organizes different types of activities, all of which are free of charge. People simply purchase what they wish at whichever venue they go to. “Sometimes we stay at a coffee house and drink coffee. Sometimes, we play games. One month ago, we went skating. Next time, we’ll go cycling around Shenzhen,” quipped Horgan.
For Dashdezhidyin, the Spanish Corner helped him get to know people in Shenzhen. “I got to know a Latin person who invited me to join the Spanish group. I started talking with everyone, getting to know them through dancing, the language and football. Now, with so many friends, I socialize every day, like getting coffee, and having breakfast and lunch together. I feel so much at home.”
Oswaldo Loor from Ecuador has been living and doing business in Shenzhen for five years. Though living a happy life in Shenzhen, sometimes Loor gets confused by the cultural gap. “We Latinos are much more extroverted, we love hugging and kissing. Here, Chinese people don’t like bodily contact,” he said.
“We kiss when we say hello or goodbye. Here, when I want to do that to a girl and say hello, she’ll avoid it. Sometimes, it’s quite different even though we are very good friends,” said Loor, but added that Shenzhen people are very nice.
Feng Shimei, a Chinese girl working for a Spanish company, finds the gathering very helpful. “I joined the group last year. I get to make friends from different countries and I can learn to communicate with them using the language. For me, it’s really a good opportunity,” she said.
Spanish Corner (Rincon Shenzhen) is a group of people who can speak Spanish or are learning it. They come together to practice speaking the language, learn about the cultures of China and Spanish-speaking countries, and have fun together.
The corner has a WeChat group of more than 100 people. They talk about everything in Spanish. “We only speak Spanish in the group most of the time. But if a person doesn’t understand something grammatically, he can ask a question in Chinese,” said Horgan.
According to Horgan, the Spanish Corner has three objectives. The first is to bring together members of the Spanish-speaking community in Shenzhen to make them feel more at home. The second is to create a Spanish-speaking environment to motivate people who are learning Spanish. The other goal is to learn about the cultures of different countries.