Soochow Int’l Students Join Ancestor Worshiping plus Chinese New Year Celebration Party

More than 400 students and faculty and staff members attended this year’s ancestor worshiping plus Chinese New Year celebration party for international students on January 12^th at the Taipei Peng’s Gourmet & Banquet. They showed respect for the ancestors before feasting on a joyful lunch banquet to start a new year and a new semester.

The event began with a memorial ritual presided by President Wei-Ta Pan as the officiant and accompanied by other administrative heads as assistant officiants, including Overseas Community Affairs Council Counselor Shu-Ching Chen, Ministry of Education First Secretary Hai-Yin Sheng, Vice President Bau-Tscheng Dung, School of Foreign Languages and Cultures Dean Shang-kuan Chang, Office of International and Cross-Strait Academic Exchange Dean Shih-Ho Wang, International Affairs Center Director Fu-Sheng Shih, and Cross-Strait Affairs Center Director Yu-Mei Wang.

President Pan urged students to worship and respect their ancestors, to be grateful and humble, to care about the society, and to live up to the school motto. Secretary Sheng of the Ministry of Education praised Soochow University for its dedication to international exchanges, while Counselor Chen of the Overseas Community Affairs Council encouraged overseas compatriot students to take advantage of the overseas compatriot card, which provides discounts at authorized stores, and invited international students to study in Taiwan.

The event also uncovered plenty of hidden talents among international students, from singers, dancers and rappers to saxophonists, flutists and keyboardists. The host’s stage presence and great sense of humor was the icing on the cake, filling the venue with laughter and applause.