„In a man’s lifetime one year is considered to be short, however, in the history of an institute the first year is very defining. So far, the Institute has proven its success and its activity by organizing various kinds of programs. “- said Prof. Dr. Gábor Szabó, Rector at the University of Szeged, in his welcome speech in the Atrium of the Rector’s Office. The Rector shared his thoughts: now already it would be really strange if I would not see and meet with the teachers of the Confucius Institute day by day. The fruit of their labor is well proven by the huge number of students who got acquainted with the Chinese language, and also by all those events which popularize Chinese culture. Amongst the good wishes, the Rector wished the Confucius Institute to be as successful for the forthcoming years as it was this year!

István Ujhelyi, director of the Advisory Board of the Confucius Institute at the University of Szeged, welcomed the Institute with a fable. After the moral of the classic story of The water barrel and pottery, the Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly said we should together define our mission and the main point of our life as the water barrel and the broken pottery found the function and the point of its life of the broken pot in the fable.

Seeing the representatives and directors of primary schools László Solymos, the Deputy Mayor of Szeged, emphasized in his welcome speech: the Confucius Institute at the University of Szeged performs an important mission by teaching Chinese from a very young age. The Deputy Mayor of Szeged expressed his hope that on the Institute’s 100th birthday all the guests will be able to greet the jubilee in Chinese!

Lívia Szentmártoni and Zhang Xuemei, the Directors of the Confucius Institute, summed up all the events and happenings of the last year at the ceremony. The photo exhibition in the Rector’s Office atrium reminded the guests about the various and colorful programs, which were held at the Confucius Institute. The teachers of the Institute also prepared with a little surprise by doing karaoke performances.

At the end, good Chinese music, varied activities, cake and tombola waited for the guests in the JATE Klub. Both the students and friends of the Confucius Institute did not miss the year’s best Chinese birthday party.