From: NWCS Principal
Date: 3/13/2015 9:29 PM

Hello Everyone,

What a drastic change in weather!  We can actually see the ground again!  Even with losing the one hour of sleep from daylight savings, everyone seems to be in a much better mood.  I even felt like I lost some weight, oh wait, I was just wearing a lighter coat.  LOL

A couple of things to announce.  The Association of Chinese School is hosting a Karaoke competition.  Ask your teachers for additional information.  You can do this in the comfort of your own home. We just need to send in the recording.  It will be fun.  I hope all of you will participate.

Our registrar also sent out some information regarding a summer camp in Taiwan.  If you have children ages 14 to 18, you might be interested in checking it out.

Our raffle sale is still on going.  Please see Francine and purchase your raffle tickets.  We will announce the winners the first Saturday we are in school in April.

I was away on Bank business so I did not have a chance to go through many of my email messages.  I will try to get through them this weekend.

See you tomorrow!  Classes start at 9am sharp.  Please be on time.

(Please excuse the Chinese version of the weekly message, my Chinese software is not cooperating, I should have it fixed by next week).

——————————————————-
李宜蓉 Eileen Y. Lee
北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2015
——————————————————-
GO NWCS!!!!  Visit www.nwcsny.org
or email LearnChinese@nwcsny.org

From: NWCS Principal
Date: 3/7/2015 5:28 PM

From: NWCS Principal
Date: 2/27/2015 8:15 PM

大家好，

非常高興上週六看到大家。許多學生穿著中國服裝看起來喜氣洋洋。

我這整個星期在公司解釋有關中國新年除夕吃魚的來由。我還解釋橘子鮮豔的顏色看上去像金子所以大家在新年家裡都有橘子。

其實這些習俗我都是聽我爸媽，叔叔，阿姨說的。​​我唯一的中國農曆新年的記憶是穿著新衣服和所有的大人給你紅包。

由於我是我家的老大，我都收到最高金額的紅包。我記得我總是召喚我的妹妹和弟弟到我的房間來告訴我他們紅包裡有多少錢。如果他們有相同或比我多，他們得交出差異的錢。我會告訴他們，某某叔叔很可能給錯了紅包，因為我是老大，我應該得到的最多。

經過幾年我們的爸媽和其他的大人決定取消了紅包。我媽媽最好的朋友也是有4個孩子。我聽見媽媽告訴她：“哎呀，怎麼樣，省麻煩，你不必，我也不必。“  兩個媽媽很開心，他們想出了這個好主意！可憐的是孩子們…尤其是我，我是老大，損失最多。

現在，我自己有孩子，巧合的是，我大部分的朋友也都有兩個孩子..所以我告訴他們，讓我們將其取消…. 當我的雙胞胎聽到我的計劃，我以為他們會昏倒了。我的朋友都是好媽媽，他們不想拿走孩子的樂趣。所以我想我還是得去購買一些紅包。

明天我打算給我班上的學生紅包。每個紅包將有 $1，其中的一個紅包將有$10。讓我們看看明天誰是幸運小朋友！

不要忘記你仍然有機會購買抽獎券。有好多獎品。祝大家好運。

星期六見！學校早上九點開始，請大家準時到!

Hello Everyone,

I hope everyone is surviving the below zero temperatures.  The good news is that it should be above freezing next week.  Spring is just around the corner!

It was great to see everyone last week.  Many students were wearing their Chinese outfits which made the school very festive.  I don’t know about you, but I have been explaining the Chinese New Year all week.  I actually explained to my class last week the reason one of the main dishes for Chinese New Year’s Eve is fish.  Fish is

ㄩˊ(yu2), and it is the same pronunciation as the word “left over”.  So eating fish on New Year’s Eve symbolizes that you have left over or a surplus (of money) for the year.  Since I do not cook, I bring oranges to friends’ houses.  Orange sounds similar to “wealth” and its bright color looks like gold so it is a popular item during the New Year Celebration.

All these customs I learned from my parents, aunts and uncles.  My fondest memories of Chinese New Year are wearing new outfits and all the adults giving you red envelopes. Since I am the oldest of four siblings, I usually received the most in the red envelops.  I remembered vividly that I always summoned my younger sisters and brother to my room to show me how much they were given in their red envelopes.  If they had the same or more than me, I would make them hand over the difference.  I would tell them, uncle so and so probably gave us the wrong envelopes. Since I am the oldest, I should get the most.  LOL

After several years our parents and other adults decided to just cancel the red envelopes.  I heard my mom saying to her best friend who also had 4 kids, “aiya… too much trouble getting envelopes and doing all these exchanges.  How about you don’t have to, and I won’t either.”  The two moms were so happy they came up with this genius idea!  I remembered having a fit because the ones who suffered were the kids … especially me, the oldest one.

Now that I have my own family, I no longer get red envelopes.  Instead, it is my turn to give back to my parents and others’ children.  Coincidentally, most of my close friends all have 2 kids … so I told them let’s cancel them … boy oh boy, I thought my twins saw a ghost when they heard my plan.  Of course, my friends are softy moms so they did not want to take away the fun from the kids.  I guess I still have to go get some red envelopes.

Anyway, tomorrow I am going to give my class red envelopes.  Each envelope will have $1 in it except one, it will have $10.  Let’s see who the lucky winner is tomorrow!

Speaking of winners, you still have a chance to buy raffle tickets.  For those who don’t remember what the prizes are, they are a surface pro, miscellaneous gift cards, and three $1,000 gift cards to Saks!  It is your last chance to purchase your raffle tickets.  Please come see Francine and buy your tickets!  Hey, you never know!

See you tomorrow!  Classes start at 9am sharp.  Please be on time.

——————————————————-
李宜蓉 Eileen Y. Lee
北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2015
——————————————————-
GO NWCS!!!!  Visit www.nwcsny.org
or email LearnChinese@nwcsny.org

From: NWCS Principal
Date: 2/19/2015 10:59 PM

新年快樂！祝大家羊年喜“羊羊”!

教師們上週六情人節當天開會討論新學期必要的準備工作。我們下週準時開學。

到目前為止根據氣象報告，學校的第一天應該不會下雪, 但仍然會很冷，所以大家要記得穿著暖和。

星期六見！學校早上九點開始，請大家準時到!

Happy New Year of the Goat (or Ram or Sheep)!!  Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous new year!! I hope that everyone enjoyed their winter break and had a wonderful time with their loved ones.

Last Saturday on Valentine’s day, the teachers met and discussed the upcoming semester.  I hope you too are ready to continue your Chinese learning!  Remember to dress warm.  So far the forecast seems to be cooperating so we will see you bright and early on our first day of school!

See you all on Saturday!  Classes start at 9am sharp.  Please be on time.

——————————————————-
李宜蓉 Eileen Y. Lee
北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2015
——————————————————-
GO NWCS!!!!  Visit www.nwcsny.org
or email LearnChinese@nwcsny.org

From: NWCS Principal <principal@nwcsny.org>
Date: 1/2/2015 3:18 PM

大家新年快樂！

我希望大家有一個美好的節日。一個媽媽告訴我，她家每年都是回去公婆家過聖誕節。 她說，她婆婆總是給她的孫子們一袋煤。看著我目瞪口呆的表情，她笑了，並解釋說，這是她婆婆幽默的傳統…一袋煤是用巧克力做的，孫子們都喜歡！

本週是我們這學期最後的一星期。接下來是1月10畢業典禮和新年慶祝活動。

我們知道許多家庭（包括我的）在這個假期都旅遊去了，可能不會在學校，所以1/3或1/10（上午九時至上午10時）可以考試。請與你的老師聯絡和商量。

新年慶祝活動的日程安排將於近期公佈。根據去年的經驗，首先是第12屆與九年級和六年級的畢業典禮其次是表演，隨後午餐和孩子們的歡樂活動。如果您有任何問題，請聯繫我們的副校長，Shuna Awong女士。

不要忘了買你的午餐券和抽獎券。我們今年有非常好的獎品: Microsoft Surface2平板電腦（特等獎），這是由北威捐贈; iTunes卡; 星巴克禮品卡…等。而這還不是全部，我們今年有一個神秘的聖誕老人慷慨捐贈一些Saks Fifth Ave 禮品卡，總額為三千美元。趕快購買您的抽獎券，也許我們可以有一個北威中文學校 Saks Fifth Ave購物旅行。謝謝神秘聖誕老人！你是最棒的！

當然，如果你也有興趣捐贈任何獎品（從專賣店等如禮品卡），請聯繫我們的董事長，陳健林先生。
前任的董事長雷先生由他的公司為我們學校申請到義工資助金一千美元！謝謝雷先生！你也是最棒的！

祝福大家有一個更美好的2015年！

明天見！學校早上九點開始，請大家準時到!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful time with friends and family over the holidays and received everything they wished for. A mom told me that her family is visiting the in-laws up north. She said her mother-in-law always gives her grandchildren a bag of coal for Christmas. Looking at my flabbergasted expression, she laughed and explained that it is all part of her humorous tradition … the coals are made of chocolate and the grand children love it!

This week is our final week of the semester followed by our annual big event, the graduation ceremony and New Year celebration on January 10th.

We know many families are away (mine included) for the holidays and might not be in school so the finals can be taken on 1/3 or 1/10 (between 9am to 10am). Please coordinate with your teacher.

The schedule for the New Year celebration will be published soon. Based upon last year’s experience, the graduation ceremony for the 12^th, 9^th and 6^th grades start in the later morning, followed by the performances, lunch and then the carnival. If you have any questions about details, please contact our Vice Principal, Ms. Shuna Awong.

Don’t forget to buy your lunch tickets and raffle tickets. We have some fabulous gifts this year … and they are: Microsoft Surface 2 Tablet (GRAND PRIZE) which is donated by NWCS; Apple ITunes Card; Starbuck Gift Cards …etc. And that’s not all, this year we have a SECRET SANTA who graciously and generously donated several gift cards from Saks Fifth Avenue, totaling $3,000. Hurry and purchase your raffle tickets and maybe we can have a NWCS Saks Fifth Ave shopping fieldtrip! Thank you secret Santa! You are the best!

And of course if you are interested in donating any prizes (e.g. gift cards from the stores, etc), please see our chair, Mr. Calvin Chin.

I hope your 2014 was great like mine and that we will all have an even better 2015!

See you tomorrow! Classes start at 9am sharp. Please be on time.

——————————————————-

李宜蓉 Eileen Y. Lee
北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2015
——————————————————-
GO NWCS!!!! Visit www.nwcsny.org
or email LearnChinese@nwcsny.org

From: NWCS Principal <principal@nwcsny.org>
Date: 12/19/2014 8:18 PM

From: NWCS Principal <principal@nwcsny.org>
Date: 12/12/2014 9:33 PM

上週六放學後，我在法拉盛的中國文化中心參加書法大賽頒獎典禮。我也在那裡頒獎給國畫大賽獲獎者。許多不同的學校參加，所有學校的校長都在，但我們的學校沒有任何學生參加……我希望明年我們的獲獎者都會來參加。我很高興看到這麼多有才華的學生展示他們的作品。巧合的是，在隔壁有書法和國畫藝術家的展覽。真是一個不錯的方式來鼓勵我們的年輕藝術家，有一天，他們也將能夠展覽他們的作品。我將發送另一電子郵件，宣布獲獎者。

我們已經到了第十二週。一個學期有十四週。第十五週是我們十二年級,九年級和六年級學生的畢業典禮,新年表演和慶祝午宴。
如果沒有下雪，以下是我們的學期時間表：

明天見！學校早上九點開始，請大家準時到!

‘Tis the season to be jolly … what a cold week it was. I already had two holiday parties … Just still not ready for the holidays …

So last Saturday after school, I attended the Calligraphy Contest Award Ceremony being held at the Chinese Cultural Center in Flushing. I was also there to present awards for the Chinese Painting Contest Winners. Many different schools participated and all the principals were present BUT our school was the only one without any students to show up … I hope next year everyone will show up! Anyway, it was a great to see so many talented students presenting their work. Coincidentally, in the next room, there was an exhibit of the accomplished Calligraphy and Chinese Painting artists. What a nice way to motivate our young artists to continue their work, and one day, they too, will be able to display their work in the next room. I will send out a separate email to announce the winners.

So here we are at the 12^th week of our Chinese program. There are 14 weeks in each semester. The 15^th week is our Graduation for our 12^th grade students and for the students who have completed the 9^th and 6^th grades as of June of 2014.

If mother nature cooperates, the following is our schedule for the remainder of the semester:

See you all tomorrow! Classes start at 9am sharp. Please be on time.

——————————————————-

SHOP HERE! ​

https://smile.amazon.com/

李宜蓉 Eileen Y. Lee
北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2015
——————————————————-
GO NWCS!!!! Visit www.nwcsny.org
or email LearnChinese@nwcsny.org

From: NWCS Principal <principal@nwcsny.org>
Date: 12/5/2014 5:53 PM

我希望大家有了一個快樂的感恩節！感恩節我們有約40個親戚家人和朋友，然後感恩節週末又有20朋友個朋友的來吃火雞驚喜晚宴 — 吃感恩節剩下來的東西。

我們的家人和朋友大多來自世界各地，因此感恩節當晚最有趣的是大家分享多年來有趣的感恩節故事。

我總是跟他們分享我的第一個感恩節的經驗（因為大家來我家慶祝感恩節，他們需要聽我的故事一遍又一遍）…你們是我北威的家人，所以也跟你們分享……

當我爸媽把我們帶到美國，感恩節那天商店或餐廳都休息沒有做生意！我爸媽想讓我們體驗文化，所以我們可以學習和適應，他們跟他人一樣買了很大的火雞煮了好幾個小時。吃晚飯時，我們有一隻巨大的火雞在我們我們餐桌上。我們不知道要配什麼菜，所以沒有土豆泥，沒有玉米，沒有蔓越莓，什麼配菜都沒有…..只有這個巨大的火雞在我們我們餐桌上。我們非常困難的用筷子試著夾火雞肉，真是沒有樂趣可言。掙扎了約兩個小時後，我突然發現了火雞的 …嗯，火雞裡面有個塑料袋，我像發現新大陸：“嘿，這是什麼？”我想我們應該在煮之前把它拿出來，但我們根本不知道塑料袋在那裡！唉，我的第一個感恩節！我相信大家會了解我們之後也不敢吃火雞，我們轉向中國版的火雞, 在感恩節吃醬油雞, 蔥油雞, 甚至肯德基 ！我們感恩節很感謝我們不必吃火雞。

每年我分享這個故事之後，都有搗蛋的朋友起身檢查火雞，看是否有一個塑料袋;或問今年誰煮的火雞;或者想知道他們吃得是火雞嗎 … 當然大部分的搗蛋鬼沒有被邀請回來。 哈哈!

明天見！學校早上九點開始，請大家準時到!

I hope that everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and a restful week! We had about 40 family and friends over and then another 20 friends on the weekend after to have a Turkey Surprise Dinner which pretty much was intended to take care of the left overs. Good planning, huh?!

Since our family and friends mostly come from all over the world, the most fun part of the night is when we share funny stories from over the years.

I always share my first Thanksgiving experience with them (since it is my house, they just have to listen to it over and over again) … and you are all my NWCS family, so here it goes … When my parents brought us to the United States, there were no stores or restaurants opened on Thanksgiving day! My parents wanted us to experience the culture so we can learn and fit in. My parents brought a big bird home like everyone else and cook it for a few hours. By dinner time, we too had a giant turkey on our dinner table. We did not know of any side dishes to make, so no mash potatoes, no corn, no cranberry, nothing… just this big giant turkey on the table. We used our chopsticks to try and get pieces of the meat off but it was so dry that it was just not fun at all. Since that was the only thing we had, we had to fill our stomachs. About 2 hours later, after suffering through the dry and tough turkey, I noticed something sticking out of the turkey’s … hmmm, anyway, I pulled this plastic bag out of the turkey and said, “Hey what is this?” I guess we were supposed to take it out, but we did not even know that it was there! Ugh, what a Thanksgiving we had! Needless to say, we did not venture to cook any more turkeys in the subsequent years. We turned to the Chinese version of turkey, the good old reliable chicken, soy sauce chicken, scallion and ginger chicken or even KFC fried chicken on Thanksgiving Day! We were really thankful that we did not have to eat any more turkeys.

Every year I share the story and every year a wise guest would get up and check the turkey to see if there is a plastic bag; or ask who cooked the turkey this year; or wanted to know if it was the Chinese version of turkey that I served … of course most of them were not invited back the following year. LOL

See you all tomorrow! Classes start at 9am sharp. Please be on time.

——————————————————-

SHOP HERE! ​

https://smile.amazon.com/

李宜蓉 Eileen Y. Lee
北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2015
——————————————————-
GO NWCS!!!! Visit www.nwcsny.org
or email LearnChinese@nwcsny.org

From: NWCS Principal <principal@nwcsny.org>
Date: 11/21/2014 5:08 PM

這整個星期冷得我都病了。又不好意思跟公司請假，因為下週早已請好假了…唉，真不敢相信已經是感恩節了！真的是”時光似箭”。
明天我們十點十五分開學校大會。歡迎大家參加。買杯咖啡和幾個飯糰或麵包，大家坐下讓我們來聊聊我們的學校的情況。

今天身體不舒服，因此我就廢話少說了，哈哈。

不要忘了完成你的功課和複習小考！
明天見！學校早上九點開始，請大家準時到!

Brrrrrr! I hope that it is cold enough for you! I, on the other hand, got sick, and was totally out of it. Unfortunately I couldn’t take any time off since I am already scheduled to take off Thanksgiving week. Ugh, next week is already Thanksgiving week! Holy Cow! Time does not even fly anymore, it just goes swoosh, as it goes by. In Chinese we say, Time passed by an arrow! It must be some super duper arrow.

Tomorrow we will have our General Meeting right after the break, so we will start at 10:15. Grab a cup of coffee and purchase a couple of rice rolls or bread and let’s chat about our school!

Ok, I am not feeling well, so I am going to stop right here! (Stop smiling!)

Don’t forget to complete your homework and study too!

See you all tomorrow! Classes start at 9am sharp. Please be on time.

——————————————————-
李宜蓉 Eileen Y. Lee
北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2015
——————————————————-

SHOP HERE! ​

https://smile.amazon.com/
GO NWCS!!!! Visit www.nwcsny.org
or email LearnChinese@nwcsny.org

From: NWCS Principal <principal@nwcsny.org>
Date: 11/14/2014 5:10 PM

大家好，

希望大家都已準備好明天回校學習中文。昨晚是今年第一次下雪！陽光照在光禿禿的樹枝上的雪像透明水晶一樣,很美麗。我老公和我跑到院子裡拍照留念。

昨晚我追我的雙胞胎強迫他們做中文作業。可悲的是他們認為讓他們的媽媽上氣不接下氣的追是很有趣的。當我抓到了雙胞胎中一個，我抓住他的胳膊，拖他回來。他驕傲的對我說：“媽媽，你知道我是越來越大，很快你就不能拖我了”。看著他比我越來越高大強壯 … 我告訴他們一個中國人的故事。

“韓伯俞是漢朝初年的梁國人，這一天，他有了過失，母親打他的時候，他無聲的流了眼淚。母親看到了，驚奇的問他：「我以前每次打你，從來沒有見過你流眼淚。這一回打你，你為甚麼流眼淚呢？」

韓伯俞回答說：「媽媽，以前我有了過失，你打我的時候，我身上感覺到很痛，但心裡想着是我錯了，該打。我就忍着疼痛，心裡也沒有怨恨的情緒，所以沒有流淚。現在，你打我的時候，我看到您年老體衰，親身感受到你的手勁，大不如前了。我身上雖然不覺得痛，但兒子心裡太難過了。我沒有孝敬好您……」說著，就大哭起來。”

我自己講故事講的都幾乎流淚，因為想到自己的父母也老了…..我的兒子看著我說：“媽媽，你為什麼總是有這麼多的中國故事…… 其實，我認為那個媽媽應該省她的精力，不要打兒子，然後她就不會那麼弱了“。我浪費時間講一個好故事給我的雙胞胎！嘆一聲做媽媽無助的嘆息！我只能盡我所能。正如我最常說的一句話，你可以把馬帶到水邊去，但你不能強迫他們喝水（或幫他們喝）。

明天見！學校早上九點開始，請大家準時到!

Hi Everyone,

I hope that everyone enjoyed the extra time last Saturday and is all ready to return tomorrow to learn Chinese. We had our first snow of the year last night! It was beautiful to see the sun shining on the frozen tree branches. My husband and I took our dog for a walk and snapped many pictures.

Last night I was chasing my twins to study for their Chinese homework. Yeah, I had to chase them because they thought it was funny to make their mom run. When I got to one of the twins, I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him back to the table where the homework was. He said to me “Mommy, you know I am getting bigger and soon you won’t be able to drag me anymore”. He was so proud of the fact that he is getting stronger than me … so I told them a Chinese story.

“There was this guy named Han Bo Yu from the Han Dynasty. One day, he did something wrong, his mom beat him (yes it was allowed and rightfully so) and he shed his tears in silence.

When his mother saw him crying, she was very surprised and asked him “Every time I hit you before, I have never seen your tears, why do you shed tears this time?”

Han Bo Yu replied: “Mom, when you hit me before, I understand it was because I made mistakes and although my body felt the pain, I know I was wrong so I endured the pain of the beating and I did not have any resentment towards you and therefore, I did not shed any tears. But just now, when you hit me, I could see that you are old and feeble and I can feel your hand no longer has the strength like you once had. Although I do not feel any physical pain, but I feel a deep sadness and pain in my heart that I have not been a good son to you and still make you angry. ” And he continues to sob because of the fact that his mom is getting weaker. The end! “

I was almost in tears when I told them the story as I think of my own parents who are also getting older (not that they still beat me) … my twins looked at me and said “Mommy, why do you always turn everything to a Chinese story … besides, I think the mom should save her energy and don’t always beat the son then she won’t be so weak”. Another good Chinese story wasted on my twins! I can only promise to do my part as their mom. As I have always said, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink (or drink for them). Sigh!

See you tomorrow! Classes start at 9am sharp. Please be on time!

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李宜蓉 Eileen Y. Lee
北威校長 NWCS Principal, 2009-2015
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