By: Joseph Shi
Recently, I had the honor of leading a series of online cultural exchange meetings connecting children from Yunnan Province, China, with peers from the United States. Through the work of Capital Youth Outreach Club (CYOC) and school administrators of the No. 1 Elementary School of Malipo in Yunnan China, these virtual meetings strived to build friendship between the children through a variety of engaging activities.
We began each meeting with a warm welcome where all participants introduced themselves. After the brief introduction, a series of discussions started revolving around the topic of “Our Favorite Things”. First, everyone discussed their favorite activities. Yunnan kids shared their love for traditional Chinese games such as shuttlecock kicking (踢毽子) and calligraphy, while children in the US talked about sports like soccer and swimming as well as hobbies such as baking cookies or painting. Though both groups have many differences in their favorite activities, we both discovered a shared passion for reading and listening to music, which transitioned to our next topic, “Our Favorite Books and Songs”.
During the discussion, everyone was eager to share their favorite books ranging from historic classics such as The Great Gatsby and Water Margin (水浒传) to contemporary masterpieces such as The Three Body Problems and The Kite Runner. Discussion only became more engaging as the topic of music came about. Everyone’s favorite genres contained modern pop, hip-hop, indie rock, etc. One kid from the US even shared his music playlist with everyone where the variety of the songs was an eye-opener to many.
The meeting then transitioned to the English activity section where we played the English version of a classic Chinese game 词语接龙 (word chain) where children took turns saying a word in English that started with the last letter of the previous word. This activity was not only fun but also a fantastic way to improve vocabulary. Whenever the Yunnan children struggled to think of a word, the American kids were eager to help by offering words and explaining their meanings. This collaborative effort was met with enthusiasm, and the Yunnan children added these new words to their vocabulary. As we get more and more familiar with each other, participants are more comfortable to open up and discuss topics outside the planned agenda. I strongly feel the need for more cultural exchange activities in the future as they construct a bridge that promotes global understanding and harmony.
华府青年 CYOC 