March 16, 2022, the Confucius Institute at the University of Saskatchewan (USask CI) along with the USask CI Student Club (UCSC) took part in the Global Village Fair organized by the International Student and Study Abroad Center (ISSAC) at Louis’ Pub on Campus. It is the first large-scale in-person event for international students since the COVID-19 pandemic, so that many student organizations and over 300 students joined in the event for live performances and the taste of cultural food.
The Global Village 2022 focuses on global citizenship. The purpose of the event is to enable students to get engaged with other cultures, appreciate different perspectives and examine global issues in order to be global citizens.
The CI Student Club set up a booth at the event with Chinese cultural decorations and photos from the previous CI events such as Chinese movie night, the Spring Festival celebration, dumpling making class, just to name a few. Volunteers at the booth also introduced information about the CI Tai Chi class, Chinese Dance class, Lion Dance club, as well as China study tour and scholarship opportunities.
The students’ favorite activity at the CI booth is to find out how to write their names in Chinese characters on a piece of red paper with calligraphy brushes. Many students lined up to have their names written. The CI volunteers took some lovely pictures of students who were smiling and holding their Chinese names.
As part of the live music show, the CI Chinese Musical Instrument Group performed an instrument ensemble called “Blue and White Porcelain”. Erhu, Guzheng and Zhongruan are traditional Chinese instruments with thousands of year’s history. It was the very first time for many audiences to see and hear these musical instruments. The crowd gave a big round of applauses to the 3 artists for their fantastic performance.
The CI Dance Group performed a Chinese classical dance “Clouds Are Scattered” (Fu Yun San). The graceful dancers were warmly welcomed and appreciated by the audiences.
The USask international Students from all around the world showcased their talent in the 2022 Global Village. The CI and CI Student Club are looking forward to next year’s Global Village to celebrate cultural diversity on our campus.