“That family feeling”

The Chinese New Year took on a whole new meaning for residents in a Launceston aged care facility who went around greeting each other with Xin Nian Hao (Happy New Year).

Registered Nurse (RN2) Yang Xu has ordered a traditional Chinese outfit to wear during Harmony Week to surprise the residents at Uniting AgeWell’s Newnham Community, Aldersgate Village.

“They love hearing about China, its culture and my life growing up there,” explains Yang. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed sharing this with them.”

During Harmony Week we’re celebrating the cultural diversity of our staff with a clear message that we welcome all, and that everyone belongs.

Yang says she could sense this feeling of inclusion from day one. She loves this “family feeling” at Aldersgate Village.

She grew up in Harbin, in the North East of China, which is famous for its snow and ice sculptures. Yang, who is an only child, studied nursing and was determined to see the world. So, at the age of 23, she found herself in the Apple Island, enrolled to study a Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Tasmania.

“The nursing system is very different here,” she explains. “I needed to study and do placements in Australia in order to work here.”

She started working at Aldersgate Village in 2016 – and the rest is history! “I love working with older people,” Yang explains. “They have so much to say, they are so wise. I see my grandparents in them.”

She says Aldersgate Village feel like home from home to her. “Everyone is so friendly and supportive.”

Yang is married to her childhood sweetheart, and they have five-year old twins. They still speak Mandarin at home but have become dinky-di Aussies when it comes to the great outdoors.

They go to the beaches, on bushwalks and appreciate the great outdoors. And her husband has become a keen fisher. All things they could not do in their landlocked former home of Harbin.

Both sets of parents have come over to visit, and can see why Yang and her husband have no intention of ever leaving.

“This is home now,” says Yang.