Issue 35 - National Chengchi University

35
Oct.2012 NCCU OIC Newsletter
What is inside your head, Taiwanese?
STORY／PHOTO
BY　Candy Chiu
The Office of International
Cooperation (OIC) of National
Chengchi University (NCCU)
invited Mr. Mark Tien-Yuan
Chiu (邱天元), the former CEO
of Seiko Epson Corporation, to
host a Taiwan Familiar English
lecture for both international
and domestic students with
the intention to help students
gain a more comprehensive
understanding of Chinese culture
on the October 16, 2012.
With years of working
experience and a fervent passion
for Chinese culture and arts,
Mr. Chiu has become one of the
most popular guest speakers in
management, innovation and
culture disciplines.
Mr. Chiu explained that,
i n t e r e s t i n g l y, a s t a n d a r d
operating procedure (SOP) does
exist when meeting a Chinese
person for the first time; he
called it as “Greeting 123.” First
question would be, “How are
you?” People would mostly
reply “好” (good). In fact, any
positive meanings that you like
to express can use the term “好”,
said Mr. Chiu. He counseled that
responses to that first question
should always be modest instead
of self-centered otherwise it will
be interpreted as rudeness and
impoliteness.
“What’s your noble family
name?” would pop out as the
second greeting question. Mr.
Chiu expounded that in Chinese
culture, social status is still
a key concern to determine
whether to build a more in-depth
relationship or just a ‘nodding’
one. “Chinese people do not
mind that much about your given
name, what is more important is
your family name,” he said.
The Chinese would go on and
ask the third question, “Where
do you come from?” The last
question represents a person’s
family heritage and reputation.
Though it might connote
discrimination, the consideration
regarding social heritage
of Confucianism has been
embedded in Chinese culture for
over 5,000 years, indicated Mr.
Chiu.
“Chinese simply want to
k n o w y o u r s t a t u s . Wi t h o u t
Mr. Chiu (邱天元)
emphasises the importance
of ‘Guanxi’ in Chinese
society; a status-to-status
relationship is the question
that Chinese often ask. He
continues by noting that in
Chinese culture a person’s
ability or talent is not the
most important thing but the
group a person belongs to
is.
knowing, it would be difficult
for them to start a conversation.”
Mr. Chiu then explained that
Chinese culture has been
influenced by three philosophies:
Confucianism, Daoism and
Buddhism. Thus, their mentality
and behaviors represent the
uniqueness of this culture and
because of this distinctiveness,
foreigners might be confused
and wonder how to deal with
Chinese people properly and
correctly without guessing their
real thoughts.
Sherry ( 闕宣旻 ), a senior
student from Department of
Land Economics, said “Though
I am Taiwanese, but I have never
thought that Chinese culture
can be that entertaining and
interesting.”
Unforgettable
experience as an
exchange student
P.2
Hiroshima
University START
Program
P.3
SA prepares
welcome party
with rich Chinese
traditions
P.4
Mr. Mark, Tien-Yun Chiu (邱天元), the former CEO of Seiko Epson Corporation, expresses that the Chinese ask
personal questions at the beginning of each greeting with the intention to simply know a person’s status. Without
knowing it, it would be hard to start or carry on a conversation.
http://oic.nccu.edu.tw
2
Oct. 2012
Silkroad
NCCU OIC Newsletter
Unforgettable experience
as an exchange student
STORY
BY　Tina Cheng
PHOTO
BY　Pi-Cheng Huang
& Joanna Tsai
On October 2, 2012,
the Office of
International
Cooperation (OIC)
invited two winners of
the excellent outgoing
exchange student
▲Instead of just studying on AU campus, Pi-Cheng
scholarship, Pi-Cheng
Huang completes an internship at the Think Tank,
The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, and
Huang(黃畢誠) and
experiences a whole new way of living in Washington D.C.
Joanna Tsai( 蔡佳君) to
give a talk, sharing their
special experiences and
encouraging NCCU
students to go abroad in
order to experience
different cultures.
Pi-Cheng Huang
(Carl Huang) is an
alumnus from the
Department of
▲Joanna Tsai dares to try new things, makes
Diplomacy, who went to
many new friends and gains a lot of unforgettable
▲During the exchange period, Joanna Tsai makes
experiences during the exchange period in
American University
friends with students from all over the world such as
Germany. She also tries couch surfing where she
China and Korea. They cook, hold parties and hang out
(AU) in Washington
meets new friends around the world.
together. At last, they have become close friends.
D.C., United States on
exchange. At the
beginning, he pointed out what he
e x c h a n g e p e r i o d i n G e r m a n y. F o r
Another outstanding exchange student,
considered important for exchange
example, she went to the elementary
Joanna Tsai, senior student from the
students: thinking about how to deal with
school to introduce Taiwan to German
Department of Finance, went to EBS
the challenge of a different lifestyle and
students and taught them to write Chinese
Business School, Germany for exchange.
how to enrich one’s life during the
characters. “It’s hard to identify how the
She regarded it as a chance to broaden
exchange period. Communicating with
exchange experience influences me. It’s
her horizon and focus more on building
cultural awareness and the ability to
been internalized and has become part of
relationships with different people from
appreciate and adapt to different cultures
my personal character,” she said.
all over the world.
are also crucial.
This is the first time that the Office of
One of her most unforgettable
In addition to being a student in AU,
International Cooperation (OIC) has
experiences was meeting a 75-year-old
he also got an internship at the Think
invited excellent exchange students to
lady, Christa, on the train. “She shared a
Tank, The Maureen and Mike Mansfield
share their experiences with those who
lot about her personal life with me and
Foundation, and served as the blogger at
are interested in going abroad on
it’s just incredible that I could talk to
AU Career Center blog to share his
exchange programs. OIC emphasizes that
someone who lived through World War II
experience as an international student in
the purpose of this sharing was to provide
and build a friendship between
the United States. “Participating in many
a platform for the outgoing exchange
generations with her,” Joanna said. “It’s
events in Washington D.C. such as going
students to pass down their experiences
inspiring that I received a letter from her
to the Congressional hearings and talking
in addition to promoting the scholarship.
and still keep in touch with her even after
to the U.S. ambassador to Japan is
There will be two other talks on
I came back to Taiwan,” she added.
unforgettable. It’s amazing to be involved
November 1 and 20. All students who are
Moreover, Joanna participated in
in global affairs on a personal level,” he
interested in outgoing students exchange
many interesting activities and did
said.
are welcome to attend.
various meaningful things during the
http://oic.nccu.edu.tw
3
Oct. 2012
Silkroad
NCCU OIC Newsletter
Hiroshima University START Program
STORY
BY　Daniel Guzman Briman
PHOTO
BY 林暐辰
As part of the 2012 START Program
(Study Tour Abroad for Realization and
Transformation), National Chengchi
University (NCCU) received 24 Japanese
students from Hiroshima University
(HU), which is one of NCCU’s partner
universities located in Japan. The START
Program consists of a two-week intensive
studying abroad experience, during which
Japanese students have the opportunity of
learning and experiencing other foreign
cultures.
This program is exclusively offered
to HU freshmen students who have
previously not had any experiences
abroad. In order to be eligible for the
program, students must first pass a test.
The selected applicants will be awarded
scholarships sponsored by HU, and will
have the opportunity to be part of the
HU START Program. Besides Taiwan,
there are five other partner universities
which Japanese students can choose from,
located respectively in the United States,
Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and
Vietnam.
While staying in Taiwan, Japanese
students had a very busy agenda. During
Group presentations in which students share their opinions and feelings towards several
issues concerning Taiwan and Japan.
the day time, they attended Chinese
Mandarin Lessons at the NCCU Chinese
Language Center ( 華語中心). Then, in
the afternoon they participated in many
activities organized by NCCU, such as
speeches, conferences, and city tours.
Most of the speeches and conferences
they attended had their main focus
on Taiwanese Society and Taiwanese
Culture. It was indeed a very valuable
learning platform for the students,
especially since the speakers were
professors and professionals with a lot
of knowledge and expertise about the
several topics and/or areas which were
discussed and analyzed.
Despite the tight agenda, Japanese
students still had time to interact
with local students and make friends.
They also had time to taste Taiwanese
cuisine and understand more about the
Taiwanese modern lifestyle.
Mr. Naoki Maeda, an Associate
Professor at Hiroshima University
and also the START Program team
coordinator, said: “START Program is all
about mutual cooperation between both
universities. It is a learning platform
f o r b o t h J a p a n e s e a n d Ta i w a n e s e
students. We want our students to have
the chance to explore the world and
learn by themselves in a total different
environment since it is their very first
time to go abroad. Our students can learn
from Taiwan, and Taiwanese students
can also learn from Japan. START
Program is a new experience, a new
plan for purposes of globalization and
internationalization within a multicultural
learning environment.”
Just after the end of one of the scheduled meetings, Hiroshima University students make different funny poses for an exciting group photo.
http://oic.nccu.edu.tw
4
Oct. 2012
Silkroad
NCCU OIC Newsletter
SA prepares welcome party with
rich Chinese traditions
STORY／PHOTO
BY　Vincent Chong
Many international students in
National Chengchi University (NCCU)
come to Taiwan for a close encounter
with Chinese culture; for this purpose
the Student Ambassadors (SA) prepared
a welcome party “Stay Hot!” on
September 20, introducing the best of
Chinese culture for the international
student community.
The chief organizer Tiffany Hu
( 胡斐田 ), a junior student from the
Department of English (英國語文學系)
said the whole party circulates around
Chinese traditions. “We decorated the
venue with red, one of the colors that
represent the Chinese culture,” said
Tiffany. The welcome party attracted
over 200 people.
The we lc ome pa r ty inc lude d
important symbols of the Chinese
culture divided into four sections:
Chinese calligraphy, Chinese tea,
Chinese handicrafts and Chinese
costumes. Chinese calligraphy was the
most popular among all the sections.
Not only did the international students
have the opportunity to write Chinese
characters with Chinese brush ( 毛筆)
but they also received unique bookmarks
with their Chinese names written by a
professional calligrapher. Evami Tench
Introducing Chinese traditions, National Chengchi University (NCCU) Student
Ambassadors (SA) throw a welcome party for the foreign students. Chinese calligraphy,
which people learn to write with Chinese brush (毛筆), is the most popular.
Distinguished Guests at NCCU
INSTITUTION
Universidad Publica de Navarra
Kings College London
Sciences Po Paris
Univesity of Windsor
University of Victoria
Monash University
University of Gent
Waseda University
Lomonosov Moscow State University
NATION
Spain
U.K
France
Canada
Canada
Australia
Belgium
Japan
Russia
DATE OF VISIT
2012.10.11
2012.10.16
2012.10.17
2012.10.18
2012.10.19
2012.10.23
2012.10.24
2012.10.25
2012.10.25
http://oic.nccu.edu.tw
( 唐依薇 ), a sophomore student from the
Department of Business Administration (企業
管理系) from Belize said that she enjoyed the
calligraphy because she could practice and
improve her Chinese writing.
In the second section of traditional
Chinese tea, SA members showed the
students how to prepare Chinese tea, from
boiling the tea leaves and rinsing it a few
times to finally drinking the tea. Robert
O Horo, an Irish exchange student of the
Chinese Language Center ( 華語文教學中
心), thought the entire process of preparing
and partaking of Chinese tea is much more
interesting than its English counterpart.
In the Chinese handicraft section, the
students were taught how to make the
Chinese knot, which is a little handicraft
believed to bring good luck. After they
finished the Chinese knot, they were able to
take them home as souvenirs. Last but not
least, the Chinese costume section invites the
students put on traditional Chinese costumes,
like cheongsam (旗袍) and mandarin jacket
(馬褂).
After all the cultural festivities were
completed, the SA put on four shows
including the Chinese opera “ Goddess of
Heaven Scattering Flowers”( 天女散花 ),
Chinese martial arts performance of Taichi (太
極拳) and Chinese folkdance. The event was
concluded with a performance of Chinese
music, a mix between the piano and Guzheng
(古箏).
SILKROAD NEWSLETTER
INFORMATION
Publisher: Dean of OIC, Dr. Shu-Heng Chen
Executive Committee: Office of International Cooperation
National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan
Address: No.64, Sec.2, ZhiNan Rd., Wenshan District,
Taipei City 11605, Taiwan (R.O.C)
Tel: +886-2-29387102
Email: [email protected]
Editor: Barbara Moi
Editor-in-chief: Kelly Wang
Campus Reporters: Candy Chiu, Tina Cheng,
Daniel Guzman Briman,
Vincent Chong
Graphic Designer: Araceli Chen