Dear Parents
I would like to wish you a Happy Chinese New Year and relaxing holidays.
With the Year of the Rat a new zodiac cycle of twelve years begins. The Rat was named the first of all zodiac animals. How did it come to this?
The most famous legend claims that Buddha organised a race in which all animals of the kingdom were allowed to participate. At the end of the race, a river had to be crossed, and it was said that the first twelve animals crossing would be given the honour of representing one year respectively of the Chinese calendar.
The rat won by surprise, because it crossed the river on the back of the ox, jumped off its back just before reaching the riverbank and won the race with a final sprint. One could call this deceitful, but it could also be interpreted as clever. People born in the Year of the Rat are also said to be very imaginative and charming. These personality traits are easy to live with, especially if you put cunning aside and act cleverly and socially.
This would also be an excellent motto for our students, who also go through a twelve-year cycle in their school careers, at least in the German International Stream.
The Year of the Rat, with its beginning of the new cycle, should be a strong, prosperous and happy year for you all.
Kung Hei Fat Choy
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Ulrich Weghoff |
