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Diverse Culture,Congenial Spirits
Author:Siying Wu  Date:2015-11-26  Clicks:

In the last twelve days, I was given the great honor to accompany three lovely ladies from Ohio State University (OSU) —Laurie, Linda and Gretchen, during their short stay in our university. As an English major student, what I have learned from this memorable experience was considerably different from anything I had ever learned from any of my textbooks.

One thing that I found incredibly crucial during this reception is communication. Due to our various cultural backgrounds, misunderstandings were very likely to be caused. Considering this, before we met, I used to be anxious about the possible obstacles which may hinder us from understanding each other. Luckily, all these three ladies turned out to be cordial and open-minded people who held deep and keen interest toward Chinese culture. They genuinely respected our cultural identity and meanwhile were willing to understand, accept and be part of it. We used to have several lunches together in the school cafeteria. Each time, they were always so eager to try several different dishes and get to know the knowledge behind their distinctive flavor. Seeing them relish tasting and savoring our traditional food with obvious enjoyment, I felt so fulfilled for achieving this seemingly trivial success in establishing cultural understanding and recognition. By communication, we could explain to them customs and traditions they might found confusing and even unintelligible, and thus develop recognition and empathy for our culture.

Another thing that I learned from my volunteer work is the importance of making careful and thorough preparation. At the meeting with WHU Department of Human Resources, I had the chance to do some interpretation work. To ensure the correctness of my translation, I previewed many materials beforehand so that I could pick the most accurate expression in the corresponding language. Inevitably, there appeared to be several mistakes when it came to complicated mathematic formulas and calculation. Thanks to the patient explanation and assistance offered by our teacher Ms. Zhang, I was able to overcome these obstacles smoothly.  

During our chatting and conversation, for many times, I was told by our guests about their gratitude toward the hospitality and kindness of us Chinese people. Throughout their visit, they had received countless help and offered by complete strangers. Hearing their compliment, I could not help feeling proud. It was the heart-warming friendliness rooted in our nature that easily removed the barriers and thawed the ice.

On the last day, when I hugged them goodbye, I had already started to miss our friendship forged in such a short time. As I have mentioned at the beginning, the valuable experience I gained in this voluntary work is definitely worth remembering for the rest of my life. In some way, it has become a motivation, disclosing a new direction toward which I should endeavor hard to achieve.

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