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| Speaker at the Chinese Evening last Thursday in Zuidhorst. (Foto: Gijs van Ouwerkerk) |
`There are eight nationalities in our group. Next to the Dutch students, there are people from India, France, Germany, Turkey, China and Korea,' said Sigrid Schuller, a PhD student who previously studied Chemistry at the University of Regensburg in Germany before arriving at the UT.
How did this tradition begin in the first place? `About one and half years ago, we jokingly started having Deutscher Donnerstag or German Thursday where we wanted to speak German the whole day, and then followed the French Friday where in the lab of the French student, only French music was played on Fridays,' said Schuller.
Only a few months ago, the Dutch students organized a Dutch Game Evening to share their own cultural habits. Shuller thinks that: `Out of these initial concepts came the ideal to also have a Deutsche borrel with Curryworst or German sausages and a `French borrel' with real crepes.'
The Chinese Evening highlighted the two metropolitan cities of Beijing and Shanghai with a film presentation on a large screen. Chinese students introduced elements of Chinese culture, such as, the ornately hand-painted blue porcelain of the Ying dynasty, various styles of origami, unique architectural designs and the traditional festivals of China.
Another famous aspect of Chinese culture is the great opera houses found in the big cities. Distinctly different from European opera, the male actors often play female roles, and equally, male parts are often preformed by females. Heavy make-up, fire-breathing and the amazingly fast changing of masks makes Chinese Opera completely unique in the world.
Other Chinese students were busy making food in a small kitchen. `The food was very tasty and much better than I was used to from Chinese restaurants. The sweet custard dumplings could become a favorite dish of mine,'said Schuller.
In light of recent events, the rector magnificus Henk Zijm was in attendance at the Chinese Evening. `The main reason for my coming tonight is to show support from all levels of the university and to extend my personal sympathy to the Chinese students,' he said.
Recently, a group of Chinese students visited the International Office to express that they felt personally attacked by remarks in Chinese characters on posters about the issues surrounding the Olympic Games and human-rights in Tibet. The Chinese students asked, `Should we feel afraid?' The question was brought to the attention of the Rector. Zijm was very clear: `The UT is a multi-cultural campus which wishes to offer a home for all foreign students, wherever they come from.'
He further remarked, `In the Netherlands, there is freedom of speech and opinion, and that may lead to critical remarks on the policy of a country, including our own. But that never regards individual students. On the contrary, within the framework of the UT's Internationalization policies, Chinese students and all international students are absolutely welcome here at the University of Twente and deserve our support, certainly in these difficult times now that their homeland suffers from natural disasters.'
Yan Song concluded the evening with a film showing images of the heavily damaged Sichuan Province in China where the earthquake took place. `For myself and for every Chinese person, it should be a special year; we learn and grow-up from all the difficulties and hardships,' remarked Song.
