“So let the light guide your way, hold every memory as you go. And every road you take will always lead you home.” This was the beautiful melody of See You Again echoed in the Multi-function Lecture Hall of the School of International Education, where a sharing party was held. 8 students from the School of International Education were invited to give a performance or share their experiences to audience from different countries .
The Sharing Party was co-held by Enactus, a student association, and the Student Union of Wuhan University’s School of International Education. Although it was raining heavily outside, foreign students and Chinese students from WHU and even neighboring schools were not deterred from coming to the party, despite the torrential downpour.
Ayrton, a student from Angola, was the first one to perform on stage. After delivering a short speech, he sang two songs including the famous Chinese song Ping Fan Zhi Lu and the English song See You Again. He mentioned that when he first came to China, his Chinese was awful. Just like many freshmen, he spent most of his school days sleeping and skipping classes. Luckily, with help from his teachers, he gradually learned to love Chinese and make friends using this language. Now his life has become completely different. He has almost become a star, frequently showing up in many important ceremonies. With his excellent singing and dancing skills, he has attracted many fans. “I could not stand here without my Chinese friends.” said Ayrton. In his mind, China is a great country for its culture and opportunities. “It is a pity that we foreign students lack interaction not only with Chinese students, but also between ourselves.”
Ayrton is giving his speech
The party was brought to climax when Linda, an Indonesian girl gave her performance with her two partners. Everyone in the audience applauded wildly. Linda said that when she was invited to be in charge of holding this activity, she hesitated for quite a while since there was only one week left for her to get all the preparatory work done. “To prepare something and to perform within such a short time seems to be quite unlikely, but I like to challenge myself so I took this chance to practice something new and make some new friends. It is my way of refreshing myself.” Linda was not sure whether she had fully shown her best voice like a professional singer would, but from the fervent reaction of the audience, she was sure that it was a huge success. Apparently, she enjoyed this kind of activity, for it gives Chinese people and foreign students a valuable chance to make friends with each other, and learn something interesting like a new language and new culture.
Audience cheering while Linda singing
Karim, a Frenchman who majors in law and Chinese in WHU, with his partner Mathilda, danced salsa at the party. In spite of all the applause they received, Mathilda expected more energy at this party. They had danced together for 3 years. “It would be better if more people could have come today.” said Karim. Mathilda, always with smile on her face, said the floor was a little slippery which made it tough for her to control her body but anyway, it was still a great night.
Karim is dancing with Mathilda
Nana wanted to go back home upon his arrival in China because he was confused about everything here. But later everything was normal after he came to WHU. He introduced his best Chinese friend, a girl who sat at the back of the lecture hall, and told the audience how this girl helped him in this two and half years. “Now I have learned to say three Chinese sentences, ni hao(Hello), ni yao qu na li(Where are you going?), ni you nan peng you ma?(Do you have boyfriend?)” Nana shared his special experiences in humorous way. “I like his performance and enjoy his distinct way of speech, just like listening to a talk show---interesting, funny and intriguing.” said Minche, an Indonesian girl from the audience.
Nana singin
Two Chinese students also addressed speeches at this party, sharing their ideas and thoughts related to study and achievements. Dwayne, an Indian student majoring in medical science, regarded this party as a good opportunity to make friends from diverse cultures. Kiani from Pakistan felt that it was such a pity that he had not known this party earlier; otherwise he would take part in to give a show.
A group photo
It seemed that everyone enjoyed themselves at the party. “We held this party to narrow the distance between foreign students and us Chinese.” said Guo Xiao, an undergraduate who was in charge of this activity. Last November, the Enactus association created an international program team, which was initiated by an American male student. This team is made up of 14 students including 3 or 4 international students. It intends to solve problems for overseas students through a variety of activities, with Sharing Party as the starting point. They spent one month or so to get prepared for it, and finally that turned out to be fine. A series of plans were on their minds. “We will improve promotional strategies next time and try to involve more foreigners and Chinese students.” They registered a Wechat account named “international student center” as a platform. After following the account, both foreign students and Chinese students will be exposed to updates for news, information of forums, lectures etc.
（Photo by Wang Ziyao, edited by Wu Siyin, Mark & Hu Sijia）
