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On November 18, students from the College of International Culture of SCNU participated in 2019 "Charming Guangdong, Living My Dreams" International Student Gala held at Southern Medical University.
Students involved in the performance mainly consist of international students from Japan and countries along the route of "the Belt and Road", such as Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Uzbekistan, Iran, etc. A small number of Chinese graduate students of the College of International Culture involved as well.
Students are taking photos with the teachers.
This year marks the third time that SCNU has participated in this activity. Instructors of the College of International Culture chose a cheerleading performance and a speech delivery to enter the competition. "Compared with previous performances featuring traditional Chinese elements, the type of performance we chose this year is more modern", said Mo Kezhai, one of the instructors of the performance team.
Youth Assembly: Enthusiastic and Energetic
With the intention of showing the vitality of international students of SCNU, the team prepared a cheerleading performance called "Youth Assembly". For two weeks, students devoted themselves to the preparation of the performance wholeheartedly under the guidance of Mrs Lu.
Early in the morning, eight girls of the cheerleading team were waiting on the first floor in the school building and prepared to set off for their rehearsal. Cozily chatting among themselves, but a few words from Mrs Lu would encourage and remind them to put on their costumes and get ready to participate in the competition.
Mrs Lu(second from the left) is encouraging the students.
Upon arrival, they went on the stage for the rehearsal since they would be the second group of contestants. Mrs Lu watched and filmed the rehearsal carefully. She pointed out formation problems and the girls adjusted quickly in the practice afterwards. "Of course, I feel nervous, because ranking is inevitable in a competition" confessed one of the girls named Sara, "but we will try our best to present ourselves and bring glory to our teachers and the university."
All the students performed with utmost enthusiasm in the competition in the afternoon. Accompanied by dynamic music, the eight girls appeared on the stage with confident smiles on their faces. Waving their hands and arms, they danced energetically on the stage, changing from one formation to another. The girls cooperated perfectly and ended the performance with a gorgeous pose and a loud applause from the audience.
"I didn't expect it to be such an excellent activity before I took part in it" said Huizhu, a Korean student in the team. "I am very excited to take part in this activity. I met many friends from China and other countries, and I get to learn more about Chinese culture through the performance of other university teams" she said.
Photos of the cheerleading performance
Chinese Characters and Me: relationship with China
The speech for the language performance of SCNU was delivered in Chinese by Nakao Haruki, an exchange student from Japan. Nakao has many experiences with delivering speeches. He told the reporter:"I was preparing for another speaking contest when I heard of this activity. I thought I didn't do well in that contest, because I was so nervous that I even forgot what to say next. I thought this activity might be a good chance for me to do better, so I agreed to take part in it."
Nakao Haruki is asking the audience to call his name in Chinese as is shown on his fan at the beginning of his speech, creating a lively atmosphere among the audience.
Holding a folding fan with his name written in Chinese calligraphy, Nakao walked on the stage calmly and gave a lively opening by asking the audience to call his name in Chinese. In fluent Chinese, he shared his understanding of the Chinese Character "he". He started from the Chinese Buddhist monk Jianzhen, who came to Japan to advocate Buddhism, to show the relationship between China and Japan in history. He talked about other meanings of "he", such as "harmony" and "tolerance", with his own study experience in China, and expressed his wish to be a "messenger of peace and promote friendly exchanges between China and Japan" in the future.
"Thanks to the activity, I can communicate with other international students at SCNU in Chinese, which is a valuable chance to study the language. What's more, I am more confident about making a speech now. Therefore, I was grateful for the opportunity given by my teachers and the school to represent our university at the International Student Gala" he said.
Both performances won the third prize in the competition. Students expressed their excitement about the activity. "I like the performances. They danced the traditional Chinese dances beautifully" Huizhu told us on the way back. Su Xudong, the instructor and organizer of the two performances, expressed his wishes after the performance. "We still need further improvements to increase the level of internationalization and provide multiple activities oriented toward the international students at SCNU. That's what we should learn from other universities involved in the International Students Gala."
Students are taking photos with the teachers after the activity.
Organized by the Guangdong Public Diplomacy Association, the Guangdong People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Guangdong Education Association for International Exchange, the International Students Gala is an annual activity for international students in Guangdong Province. The gala has become an original cultural communication activity since its first debut in 2015. It serves as a window to show the high spirit of international students in Guangdong and the charm of Guangdong culture to the rest of the world.
Written by Long Yuchen
Proofread by Edwin Baak
Edited/ Reviewed by Li Jianru
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