What a fun start to new semester!
On the morning of September 1, the International Cultural Exchange School of Fudan University (ICES) held its fall semester opening ceremony at Yifu Science Building, welcoming more than 600 students from 72 countries.
Among these students, there happen to be two James both from Australia. “We didn’t know each other until today, but it feels like we’ve been connected,” said James Zhan who also goes by ZHAN Chengfeng.
About nine years ago, Zhan started learning Chinese by coincidence. “Back then I just wanted to challenge myself with something different. But it grows on me.” According to him, Chinese language has opened a gate to a once distant culture and led him to digging deeper into Chinese history and literature. When the reporter praised his pronunciation, he replied “Nayou Nayou,”（哪有哪有） an authentic expression in Chinese used to downplay a compliment.
Zhan and his new friend James Goh, who also goes by WU Wenxian, have both come to Fudan ICES for a one-year language course on scholarship. According to Zhan, what he wants most besides language learning is to meet new friends. “I came to China in 2017 for the first time. I still have contact with my buddy back in Xi’an even 7 years later,” said Zhan. He also looks forward to exploring more Chinese cities, “this time maybe some places less touristy.”
Goh shares the same wish. In fact, both mentioned that they want to visit Harbin, a city up in the northern part of China. “Perhaps I’ve just picked up a travel partner.” said James Goh with a smile.
Goh comes from a Chinese immigrant family. Growing up in Australia, English is his first language. “My parents sometimes speak Cantonese at home, but I never learned Chinese systematically until last year,” said Goh. As a researcher focusing on gender and identity, he recognized the role language plays in one’s growth.
“At some point, I realized that even though I don’t speak much Chinese, I was actually thinking and feeling in this language,” he said. After that, he decided to learn Chinese systematically. In the process, he felt connected to the beauty of this language and explored more about his own identity. He highlighted the Chinese word “zhi-yin”(知音) which uses sound as a metaphor of the strong spiritual connection between friends to refer to someone who deeply understands another person’s feelings and thoughts.
The two James couldn’t meet each other if not for the ICES opening ceremony. In this event, representatives of freshman undergraduate, graduate and language students shared their aspirations for the upcoming semester.
Saida Rasulova, a freshman year undergraduate student from Kyrgyzstan elucidated that she wants to learn Chinese because Kyrgyzstan’s encounter with China dates back a very long time, and the Chinese language, as the carrier of Chinese culture, is “a bridge to further understanding of China”. Hiroshi Takeshita, a Chinese Language Student at ICES from Japan who has already studied at Fudan for half a year, shared that how his life at Fudan has “gone way beyond merely learning Chinese, and turned out to being very fulfilling and enriching.”
“We like the ceremony. It’s formal and informative, quite different from what we are used to in the West,” Archie Quantrill and Harry Wood said. Harry mentioned the part of singing the university anthem. “Many universities back in the U.K. don’t have an anthem or don’t sing it a lot. It’s quite a culture difference, and exactly why I think this year at Fudan would be exciting!” he said.
“They all have a high expectation on Fudan’s study and life,” said YU Hang, the interpreter of the opening ceremony and also a master student at ICES. When translating the speech, Hang felt their enthusiasm and interest in knowing people from different backgrounds and cultures and getting connected. “It reaffirms the value of my job!”
From what he said and what we saw, the two James became connected on the very first day of this semester, and it’s what happens everyday at ICES, at Fudan.
And when minds connect, stories write themselves.
(END)
Presented by Fudan University Media Center
Writer: WANG Jingyang, HU Chenxin
Photographer: WANG Yijiang, GU Aimin, WANG Jingyang, DU Hao
