Did you know that palms are decorated just like as Christmas trees in Hawaii? Just a little more than a week before Christmas, the Office of International Affairs (OIA), NSYSU, organized the Christmas Language Table event, gathering 50 students from Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, Korea, Russia, USA, France, and other countries in the Bodhi Trees Plaza on campus to learn about Christmas customs in different countries and languages, meet new friends and compete in an exciting group tournament!

 

Ray, a Business Management student from Taipei admitted that “the most important thing today was teamwork”. Groups of 5 students had to face 5 different challenges: they had to guess in what language were the words written on pieces of paper, play the game of charades and "Ten Fingers" and even shout Christmas-related words angrily at each other to make the opponent laugh first! The last challenge consisted in deciding whether given statements about Christmas customs in different countries were true or false; the students learned that just 1% of people in People’s Republic of China celebrate Christmas, palms are decorated just like Christmas trees in Hawaii and Greeks have to marry the person they kissed under the mistletoe on Christmas day. 

 

During language exchange by the tables, the students shared their best Christmas memories and learned about various Christmas customs in different countries. Koki from Japan, where Christmas is not a deeply-rooted tradition, said, that during Christmas he “eats turkey and pizza with friends and family at home”. The participants practiced also other languages besides English. Alex from Vietnam, who is new to Taiwan, learned how to introduce herself in Korean and Japanese, which she believes would turn useful when she travels. “We actually did a three-languages exchange today, including Korean, English and Chinese”, said Ray. 

 

Vice President for International Affairs Dr. Chih-Wen Kuo gave a warm welcome to all participants and wished short-term students a great time during their stay at NSYSU; the event was hosted by OIA Program Coordinator Hana Ting, with a great help from the team of Student Ambassadors of NSYSU who volunteered to organize all tournament tasks.

 

Do you want to join more events for international students of NSYSU? Follow more events organized by the Office of International Affairs: https://oia.nsysu.edu.tw/index.php