To welcome the new school year and the freshmen, the 2023 AEBS Orientation Night was held on 15th October. More than 200 students from 65 countries came to participate in the activity, sharing and celebrating the joy of the welcoming of a new semester.
Various performances were showcased by our talented and outstanding students, showcasing the multi-dimensional development of students here.
The Orientation Day was kicked off by a fascinating Ballroom dancing performance “Moonlight Shining on the World” presented by the Ballroom Dancing Society of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and 2023 freshmen of AEBS. Followed up is a solo singing performance “Thousand Miles Away” by Xu Wan Jia who is one of the award-winning members of the Top Ten Singers Competitions in ECNU.
There were also other singing performances such as “Let It Be”, “When You Believe”, “My Other Self on this World”, “I Want to See You” and “Speechless”; dance performances including “Run me like a River”, “Boston”, “Tomboy”, “World Class Dance” and “Smokin’s Hot”; as well as a GuZheng performance “Smoke and Rain Boating”.
Besides performances, activities were also prepared by the committee members to enhance the communications between foreign students and Chinese students.
For the first activity, students are allocated to groups of 5. One member will receive a card with a word written on it, and she/he will have to use their own body languages to annotate the word out, in order for the group mates to guess it out correctly. Although students receive the same word, but different annotations reflect on the diversity of cultures and backgrounds that the students are from, however, the desire to win is identical among the groups. Throughout the activity, bonds between Chinese students and international students are strengthened, language is no longer a barrier for them to become friends and developing further friendships with one another.
The second activity is “Hold Up! Don’t Move”, where the students are freely dancing and moving around on stage, together with the cheers and laughter from the audience below.
The Orientation Night is not only an occasion for students to know more about each other and meeting new friends, but also diminishing the boundaries between international and Chinese students, it is the time to exchange culture differences, to say hi in each other’s languages, and allow oneself to open up, willing to express one self’s feelings.
Each AEBS student not only enjoyed breathtaking performances, what is most valuable is that they take home the experience and met friends that will stay lifelong.
Author | Keqin Liu
Photographer | Yulin Wu
Editor | Wenting Chen
Copy editor | Xinning Liu