(The following text is an excerpt from the book Chinese Americans in Irvine 1971-2021.)
Mitzi Fu
The founding principal of Irvine Chinese School (ICS), Mitzi Fu, was born and raised in South Korea by Chinese parents. She can speak Korean, Japanese, Mandarin and English. Her experience testifies to the influence that one’s living environment has on language learning.
Mitzi Fu and family moved to Irvine in 1973. Because she could speak multiple languages, she offered to serve as an interpreter for newly immigrated parents and students to help establish cooperative relations with College Park Elementary School as well as the Irvine Unified School District. Fall 1976, having secured use of several school classrooms, Mitzi started Sunday morning classes for the dozen or so local Chinese children - the nascent Irvine Chinese School.
Mitzi, who had taught in South Korea, found several other parents who had teaching experience to come and become instructors. Depending on the student’s level, s/he is assigned to one of four classes. Because there were few students at the beginning, the older students were encouraged to help. In the process, students reaped greater rewards – they learned to serve others and to learn from each other.
At the beginning, because the school had no funding, Principal Fu took the lead in making a donation. Parents were encouraged to collect old newspapers. Proceeds from the recycled papers became part of the school’s funding. The parents responsible for sorting the papers often had their hands and clothing soiled by ink and were fondly dubbed, “The Black Hand Gang”.
During the first year, the number of students in ICS rapidly increased to over 60. The curriculum was arranged to accommodate two hours of language instruction plus one hour of culture each week. Mitzi says that many of the students came to take cultural electives. Classes such as folk dancing, martial arts, calligraphy, and Chinese songs were very popular.
Since 1977, every Lunar New Year, students would go on stage to display the fruits of their learning at “China Night”, an evening celebration sponsored by ICS parents. The students often responded to invitations from nearby schools to introduce Chinese culture, making them the earliest group of Chinese cultural ambassadors.
The Olympics were held in Los Angeles in 1984. To help the news media who converged to cover the event, the Olympic Committee sought volunteer translators. Mitzi Fu was the only volunteer who spoke Chinese, so she was assigned to help reporters from China. Every morning, she donned her volunteer uniform, and drove to the press center. The press corps’ enthusiasm in their work rubbed off on her; she offered to help guide the press representatives to scenic spots in southern California. She became good friends with many of the Chinese Olympic coverage press corps. She often cites this rare experience as proof of the benefits of learning languages.
Mitzi Fu, who has also served as president of the Southern California Council of Chinese Schools, emphasizes that ethnic Chinese born overseas, with proper guidance and encouragement from parents and friends, are able to maintain a higher level of zeal for learning Chinese language, and the Irvine Chinese School must be credited with having spent many years on transmitting Chinese culture and promoting multiculturalism in the community.
(English translation by Sally Feng)
Student performers of Palace Lantern Dance at ICS’s first Lunar New Year celebration event. All costumes for the performers were made by ICS parents.
1977年爾灣中文學校慶祝農曆新年的「中國之夜」，宮燈舞表演服裝全部由家長製作。
符慕美枝
爾灣中文學校創校校長符慕美枝是在南韓出生、長大的華僑，能講韓、日、中、英四國語言，她的成長經歷特別能印證生活環境對學習語言的影響。
符慕美枝與家人在1973年遷居爾灣，由於能講多種語言，她自告奮勇為亞裔新移民家長及學生擔任翻譯，與College Park小學及爾灣學區建立合作關係。1976年秋季班開始，符慕美枝免費借用到幾間小學教室，每周日上午為附近十多名華裔孩子開辦了爾灣中文學校。
曾在南韓華僑學校任教的符慕美枝，找來幾位有教學經驗的家長當老師，依學生程度分成四班上課。創校之初由於學生人數少，常鼓勵年紀大的學生帶頭幫忙，孩子在服務的過程中互相學習，反而更有收獲。
創校之初由於學校沒有經費，於是符校長率先捐款，並鼓勵家長們收集舊報紙，每周回收報紙累積經費，負責整理報紙的家長們，雙手及衣服被油墨染黑，因而被暱稱為「黑手黨」。
爾灣中文學校建校第一年，學生人數迅速增加到60餘人，課程安排是每周兩小時語文課加上一小時文化課，符慕美枝說，其實有許多學生來上中文學校，就是為了文化選修課，像民族舞蹈、功夫、書法、華語歌曲等都很受歡迎。
爾灣中文學校自1977年起，每逢農曆新年都會推出「中國之夜」，學生登台展示學習成果，也經常應邀到附近學校介紹中華文化，成為爾灣地區最早的一批中華文化大使。
1984年奧運會在洛杉磯舉行，主辦單位徵求能講各國語言的志工，為前來採訪奧運的新聞媒體擔任翻譯工作，符慕美枝是奧運新聞中心裡，唯一能講華語的義工，負責接待來自中國的記者。她每天一大早穿上義工制服驅車趕往新聞中心，受到記者們工作熱忱感染，還招待新聞界代表遊覽南加州景點，與當年獲派採訪奧運的中國新聞記者都成了好友。符慕美枝常以這段難得的經歷，證明學習多語言的好處。
曾任南加州中文學校聯合會會長的符慕美枝強調，在海外生長的華裔，若能有家長及良師益友的引導及鼓勵，更能維持學習中文的熱情，爾灣中文學校多年來傳承中華文化，對社區的多元發展功不可沒。
(蕭迪玉撰文)