China Talks - Celebrating the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival in Tyrol, Austria

Personal Impressions of Kayla De Leon, Master Student of International Business & Law, Ban Ki-Moon scholarship recipient at MCI

Because of our sizable Filipino-Chinese population, the Mid-Autumn Festival or the Moon Festival is also a huge part of the culture of the Philippines. So, I was glad to learn that thanks to the China Center at the Management Center Innsbruck (MCI), I would still be able to celebrate something that I had grown up with, even though I’m currently thousands of kilometers away from home.

To be honest, I didn’t expect to have as much fun as I did at the Mid-Autumn Festival. Nor did I imagine that the evening would leave me with so many fantastic insights – not just about the festival itself, but also about Chinese culture and the Chinese language.

One of the things I enjoyed the most was the keynote speech delivered by Mr. Philipp Ortner of Ortner China Consulting. In it, he shared his journey to fluency in the Chinese language – how he fell into it by accident, how he practiced with locals while working in Chengdu, and how it allowed him to establish his own company upon returning to Austria. He also gave us a ton of advice and helpful tips, which pushed me to approach my own Chinese language learning with more discipline and more passion.

Needless to say, I also enjoyed the food a lot. Besides fried rice, duck, and dumplings, the China Center was also able to procure actual moon cakes, which I was very happy about. While smaller than what I was used to, their flavors still packed a punch and brought back fond childhood memories of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.

All in all, the Mid-Autumn Festival was a huge success and I can only hope that the China Center organizes more such events. Apart from exposing students to the wonders of Chinese culture, these also help broaden our minds and perspectives, enabling us to be more open and understanding of things that we aren’t very familiar with.

Given the current state of the world, experiences that push us beyond our “cultural bubbles” are exactly what we need.

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