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Family embodies France and China
By Xu Wenwen |
November 1, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ONE Hangzhou couple and their daughter celebrate French and Chinese culture every day. French dad runs Alliance Francaise and French-born Chinese mom runs a preschool that encourages the free spirit of learning. Xu Wenwen reports.
Frenchman Alexandre Labruffe is often considered by friends to be far more "Chinese" than his French-born Chinese wife Hu Shayeng, both 37-year-old educators in Hangzhou.
"I prefer to talk in a roundabout way, which is typically Chinese," says LaBruffe, who is director of Alliance Francaise de Hangzhou. "Maybe it's because I learned a lot of Chinese philosophy, like Taoism and Confucianism."
Labruffe, a native of Bordeaux, has been interested in Chinese culture since his boyhood when he observed that Chinese characters were like pictures; he later became fascinated by Chinese modern art and literature.
In college he majored in Chinese language and art, then obtained a master's degree in education. In the late 1990s, he spent a year studying Chinese at Beijing University, where he met Hu, who was also studying Chinese language there.
Labruffe later worked for the French government in cultural affairs and in 2008 was named director of Alliance Francaise de Hangzhou.
In the past three years, the school he heads has increased enrollment to more than 2,000 students,, organized around 200 events, and has invited many French celebrities to Hangzhou, such as film director Michel Ocelot and Amos Gitai, and artist Jean-Baptiste Valadie.
"I am interested in connecting French culture and Chinese culture in many respects such as art, literature, philosophy and aesthetics," says Labruffe.
But while Labruffe is studying more Chinese culture, Chinese-born Hu says Chinese people think she is so "Western," while Westerners say she is so "Chinese."
"On one hand, I was born into a very traditional Chinese family that disciplined me strictly, but on the other hand, when I was outside my home, I was greatly influenced by the environment, such as the frank and straightforward way French people talk and act," Hu says.
Hu's parents are a very traditional couple from Taiwan and Shanghai, who run a Chinese restaurant in Paris. She is a typically industrious and hardworking Chinese woman - before she met Labruffe, she never rested for a day ever since she was a teenager.
"When I was living with my parents, I had to help working in the restaurant during weekends and vacations, and sometimes I had to take care of my older brothers and sisters' children when they come for a family reunion," Hu recalls. "Even now, I sometimes feel guilty when I take time to enjoy a cup of coffee.
"Since I was a teenager, I knew I would have to find a husband who could accept Chinese culture," she says. Labruffe did understand Chinese culture, but he also helped Hu learn how to relax.
Their four-year-old daughter Zoe-li again faces issues Hu faced when she was a child.
Salty or sweet food for breakfast? Zoe-li knows that if she has breakfast with her mother, she will have salty food, such as meat floss and pickled vegetables; if she eats breakfast with her father, then she will have sweet food, such as bread and jam.
Then there are question like, "Can I drink ice water?" In the West that's fine, but in China ice water is considered unhealthy and an invitation to illness. And what about making a sucking noise when slurping noodles? It's considered disgusting and vulgar in the West, but in China it's a sign of praise for the noodles and the chef.
No wonder Zoe-li's mother is concerned about giving her child a balanced education.
"I hope that as she grows up, she can be at ease with different cultures and live in an open environment," says Hu. Of course she will be bilingual in French and Chinese and possibly trilingual, with English.
But there was no such school in Hangzhou, so Hu decided to establish one. In 2010, she opened Freinet Education Center. Zoe-li was the first student.
The school, for children aged two to six, is modeled on the education philosophy of French educationist and reformer Célestin Freinet. It emphasizes a spirit of exploration, spontaneous study and cooperative learning.
"As a parent, more than a teacher," says Hu firmly, when asked how to rear their daughter at home.
"Children should learn in one place and relax in another place, and if parents order their children to learn at home, the child will be stressed out and give up study at school," she says.
Frenchman Alexandre Labruffe is often considered by friends to be far more "Chinese" than his French-born Chinese wife Hu Shayeng, both 37-year-old educators in Hangzhou.
"I prefer to talk in a roundabout way, which is typically Chinese," says LaBruffe, who is director of Alliance Francaise de Hangzhou. "Maybe it's because I learned a lot of Chinese philosophy, like Taoism and Confucianism."
Labruffe, a native of Bordeaux, has been interested in Chinese culture since his boyhood when he observed that Chinese characters were like pictures; he later became fascinated by Chinese modern art and literature.
In college he majored in Chinese language and art, then obtained a master's degree in education. In the late 1990s, he spent a year studying Chinese at Beijing University, where he met Hu, who was also studying Chinese language there.
Labruffe later worked for the French government in cultural affairs and in 2008 was named director of Alliance Francaise de Hangzhou.
In the past three years, the school he heads has increased enrollment to more than 2,000 students,, organized around 200 events, and has invited many French celebrities to Hangzhou, such as film director Michel Ocelot and Amos Gitai, and artist Jean-Baptiste Valadie.
"I am interested in connecting French culture and Chinese culture in many respects such as art, literature, philosophy and aesthetics," says Labruffe.
But while Labruffe is studying more Chinese culture, Chinese-born Hu says Chinese people think she is so "Western," while Westerners say she is so "Chinese."
"On one hand, I was born into a very traditional Chinese family that disciplined me strictly, but on the other hand, when I was outside my home, I was greatly influenced by the environment, such as the frank and straightforward way French people talk and act," Hu says.
Hu's parents are a very traditional couple from Taiwan and Shanghai, who run a Chinese restaurant in Paris. She is a typically industrious and hardworking Chinese woman - before she met Labruffe, she never rested for a day ever since she was a teenager.
"When I was living with my parents, I had to help working in the restaurant during weekends and vacations, and sometimes I had to take care of my older brothers and sisters' children when they come for a family reunion," Hu recalls. "Even now, I sometimes feel guilty when I take time to enjoy a cup of coffee.
"Since I was a teenager, I knew I would have to find a husband who could accept Chinese culture," she says. Labruffe did understand Chinese culture, but he also helped Hu learn how to relax.
Their four-year-old daughter Zoe-li again faces issues Hu faced when she was a child.
Salty or sweet food for breakfast? Zoe-li knows that if she has breakfast with her mother, she will have salty food, such as meat floss and pickled vegetables; if she eats breakfast with her father, then she will have sweet food, such as bread and jam.
Then there are question like, "Can I drink ice water?" In the West that's fine, but in China ice water is considered unhealthy and an invitation to illness. And what about making a sucking noise when slurping noodles? It's considered disgusting and vulgar in the West, but in China it's a sign of praise for the noodles and the chef.
No wonder Zoe-li's mother is concerned about giving her child a balanced education.
"I hope that as she grows up, she can be at ease with different cultures and live in an open environment," says Hu. Of course she will be bilingual in French and Chinese and possibly trilingual, with English.
But there was no such school in Hangzhou, so Hu decided to establish one. In 2010, she opened Freinet Education Center. Zoe-li was the first student.
The school, for children aged two to six, is modeled on the education philosophy of French educationist and reformer Célestin Freinet. It emphasizes a spirit of exploration, spontaneous study and cooperative learning.
"As a parent, more than a teacher," says Hu firmly, when asked how to rear their daughter at home.
"Children should learn in one place and relax in another place, and if parents order their children to learn at home, the child will be stressed out and give up study at school," she says.
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