On October 30, The International Cultural Festival 2015 and Welcome Party for International Students was held inside the gymnasium of central campus. The next day, there was an opening ceremony for exchange students from all over the world in the Sheng Kun Lun Concert Hall. The International Cultural Festival showed cultural exhibits of many countries and welcomed overseas students in SDU, which opened a window for students to know more things about cultures all over the world. We spoke to a few participating students to find out what they think of these activities.

It was at that time the third week in China for Qassimo, a student from Palestine who studied pharmacy in SDU and enjoyed himself during the show. He told us, "There is so much fun and I am delighted to see other cultures. I am quite fond of the Indonesian performance because I have several Indonesian friends who participated in the performance." Also, he commended a Russian performance named "Russianism" which was characterized with typical Russian songs and traditional dances. Speaking of the cultural exhibition held the previous day, he told us, "There were a lot of exciting shows." When asked which show impressed him the most, he answered "the Arabic show" without hesitation.

Yoann, a postgraduate exchange student from France in his second year in SDU, enjoyed this international cultural festival a lot. He went to the national exhibition in central campus on Thursday, watched the welcome party for international students on Friday night and would go to watch the show in Sheng Kun Lun Concert Hall on Saturday night. He told us, "I feel everything during the international cultural festival was well organized, and both the exhibition and the show were really fancy. Besides, I am very happy that everything was free, including the entrance of the welcome party."

Savador, a student from Mexico learning Chinese here, said that the university really made great efforts to organize this festival. He said, "All the events were very professional, and I was delighted that our university did make this very important."

Aliya, a sweet girl from Azerbaijan, is a second-year postgraduate student. She was learning Chinese in SDU before she began her study. Aliya shared her thoughts with us, "Thanks to SDU, we have a chance to show our own countries and learned about other nation's culture. Every year, the university made us like one big family by holding this cultural festival. I am very grateful to that."

Lily, also called Ding Shan as her Chinese name, is from Netherlands. It is her second semester in SDU. "My friend is one of the hosts, so we just get together to accompany him," she told us, "I am really looking forward to tonight's show. It is different cultures that attract me most."

Bai Ling, one of Lily's classmates, said that the food in China is pretty delicious especially Beijing Duck. "It's interesting to study in Jinan. The people here especially college students are very enthusiastic. And I am happy to be friends with them." Actually, both Lily and Bai Ling major in Chinese Literature. They showed much passion for China.

Two Nepalese students told reporters that they have learned Chinese for 5 years, but they are beginners of Chinese Literature in SDU. During their stay here, they had gotten used to the Chinese food. One of them had complaints about Chinese language, "Its grammar is easy but it is too hard to read and to write. Sometimes I even don’t know where to put my tongues when pronouncing." About tonight's party, he said that he hoped to make friends with people of different nations to feel diverse cultures.

Then we enjoyed the fantastic show with all the international students. Varieties of amazing performances were brought by both international students and Chinese students, including stunning calligraphy show, interesting plays, beautiful songs and dances, which strengthened the friendship of all the students and made them know each other better.

After its ending, a Spanish student majoring in international relations told us, "The show was amazing and my favorite one is the lively dance show by Pakistani friends—they were energetic and talented." He would like to introduce himself with his Chinese name, Ming Ke, which sounded artistic. People were taking photos, laughing and hugging at the end of the party. All the international students enjoyed the shows very much.

Written by: Lin Yutong, Fu Xumeng, Li Ao, Liu Huan

Photo by: News Center

Edited by: Xie Tingting