On March 29, 2025, TBC students and staff visited Five Loaves and Two Fish for a morning of cultural exchange and creative craft making.
A Flourishing Partnership
Five Loaves and Two Fish is a volunteer organization centered on providing support and international education opportunities to the local migrant children who comprise its student body.
TBC has been in collaboration with Five Loaves and Two Fish for nearly eight years. The relationship embodies TBC’s Jesuit Education Mission of service learning, particularly by assisting in cultural exchange activities.
This semester TBC and Five Loaves and Two Fish experienced the fine fashion of the Chinese Cheongsam and the festive fun of Mardi Gras through arts and crafts.
Celebrating the Changing of the Seasons with Fresh Floral Fashion
Kicking off this creative morning, the students of Five Loaves and Two Fish presented the Cheongsam (also known as the Qipao), a style of women’s dress
originating from the Qing Dynasty’s Manchu “Changpao.”
The Changpao evolved into the many styles of Cheongsam we know and love today including Beijing Style (Jing Pai), Shanghai Style (Hai Pai), and Hong Kong Style Cheongsams.
While each type is unique in its decoration, cut, and length, the Cheongsam is a staple of Chinese culture and a beautiful garment appropriate for any event.
The students of TBC had the opportunity to design their own Cheongsam!
Wrapping Up the Month of March with a Mardi Gras Masquerade
What better way to celebrate the new season than with the party of all parties?
Mardi Gras or “Fat Tuesday” is a holiday of Catholic origin, marking the day before “Ash Wednesday,” which is the beginning of the solemn 40-day Lenten season.
Originating from France, Mardi Gras was brought to New Orleans in the late 1600s where it evolved into a massive festival of parades, costumed revellers, performances, jazz music, and delicious Creole-style food.
While its reputation of fun for all ages still stands, Mardi Gras remains culturally significant for the people of New Orleans.
After Hurricane Katrina, a devastating cyclone destroying over $125 billion dollars of New Orleans infrastructure and tragically taking the lives of 1400 people made landfall on August 29, 2005, many citizens believed Mardi Gras would not be celebrated that year.
However, in a remarkable show of resilience, New Orleans celebrated Mardi Gras that year to show that despite tragedy, perseverance itself is a reason to celebrate!
In the spirit of Mardi Gras, TBC students and staff and the students of Five Loaves and Two Fish decorated their own Mardi Gras masks!
Author’s Note:
It was a wonderful experience learning about the Cheongsam from the kids at Five Loaves and Two Fish as well as teaching them about Mardi Gras – the entire experience brought me so much joy!
I can’t wait to see them again for another exciting cultural exchange!
By Spring 2025 Student Madeleine DeVoll
Over this past weekend, some of our students enrolled at Minzu University of China took their annual Spring Outing – this year, to Gubei Water Town. Situated about a 2-hour drive northeast of Beijing, the April weather made it absolutely perfect to explore for a spring outing. It surrounds various canals and offshoots of Yuanyang lake.
If you ever want to get a taste of Old Beijing, by far one of the best ways is to visit the hutongs. They’ve conceptually been around all the way since the 1200s, and in their most modern forms exist as protected alleyways and streets surrounded by old traditional houses and neighborhoods in the heart of Beijing and are recognized in China to be an important part of cultural heritage in the city.
My name is Jane Turner, and I’m a student from America- a second-year at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. Although I’m studying in the middle of America, I come from the very south, from a state called Louisiana.
My name is Panatsaya, a third-year student at Xavier Learning Community (XLC) / Saengtham College, Xavier Campus, Chiang Rai (SC-XCC), and I come from the Akha ethnic community. Questions of culture, identity, and belonging have never been abstract to me—they have always been part of my daily life.