By Helen Huang 12B 

Sleigh bells ring! Are you listening? When the snow glistening in the lane and the streetlights light up the sky, another exciting Christmas is here at Nanmo!  

Every Christmas, Nanmo is filled with warmth and laughter. In addition to taking photos with the beautiful Christmas tree decorated by the students, the most anticipated thing is the Christmas assembly on December 23rd this year. As the audience sat in the hall one after another, the actresses on the stage began to tell the story of The Little Match Girl by their dance; When the little girl covered the flame with her hand, everyone seemed to follow her to the fairyland. She danced with the elves and fairies, and then started their special Christmas party with the MCs Lisa Li and William Chen on the stage.  

The first game was called “Balloon Sandwich”. Players needed to hold the balloons back-to-back and transport them back and forth. The team that transports the most wins. The students were all enthusiastic about participating in the competition, there were lots of errors that happened as well. Due to the problem of tacit understanding, the occasions of the balloon flying away or being stepped on made the participating teachers and students dumbfounded, and it also attracted bursts of laughter from the audience.  

After the game, the school band performed a Chinese song “Tenderness” and an English song “Last Christmas”. Under the leadership of Jeffery Zhong, two songs with completely different styles drove the atmosphere with their brisk rhythm and soothing piano sound. “‘Tenderness’ is a song that I have prepared for a long time. Its gentle melody matches the warmth of Christmas,” said Jeffery Zhong. “‘Last Christmas’ is also a very popular Christmas song, so I believe everyone loved it.” After the two songs were over, the second game started, called “Don’t Follow My Orders”, which means when the MCs give orders, the player needs to do the opposite action. The body of the players on the stage seemed to be disobeying the instructions of their brains, the hesitation and tangled movements brought joy to the stage. 

Followed by the fun game, there came the song “Carol of the Bells” performed by Music 12 students and the school folk band Lanterns.  The ethereal singing and the melodious instruments made the audience feel the charm of folk music. The BC teachers could not resist the temptation of the stage as well. They sang “Silver Bell” to the cheers of the students, which also pushed the assembly to a climax. In the end, Lanterns performed another Christmas song. The song “Jingle Bells” instantly ignited the stage, and the familiar song resonated with the audience and made the entire hall once again cast the color of Christmas. “I chose this song because it is a classic Christmas song with a lively rhythm,” said Sylvia Jiang, the leader of Lanterns. “And I hope everyone can sing with us.” 

Nanmo has held many Christmas assemblies so far, which are organized by different people every year, so every stage is full of new and various ideas. The person in charge this year is Serena Kong, the head of the Arts Department of the new student council. She has worked hard to plan the assembly for a long time to make sure that it can run smoothly. “I gathered my fellows to think about ideas, write a lot of draft plans, and also we rehearsed many times to ensure the smoothness of the assembly,” Serena Kong said. “I hope this is a satisfying party!” Of course, her conscientiousness has resulted in a perfect Christmas assembly, which has also been highly appreciated by the teachers and classmates. “I think this party is very exciting, with laughter and singing, which satisfied all my expectations for Christmas,” said Mr. Bunton, the Music 12 and Drama 12 teacher. “Personally, I like this assembly very much, and I also believe that other teachers and students enjoyed it very much.” 

The curtain of the Christmas assembly has been closed, and December has gradually come to an end. I hope every student at Nanmo will welcome the new year with full expectations and will not leave any regrets in 2020!