In this charming fall of Beijing, another new semester began. Many new foreign experts came to Peking University, filled with expectation and anxiety for new environment in their hearts. the International Faculty Club (IFC), sponsored by the Office of International Relations, has always aimed to assist foreign faculties of our university in adopting this new environment and enjoying their time here. Therefore, with the intention of helping them get familiar with China and the campus, on September 23, 2016, the IFC held its first activity of this fall semester, including the first Chinese language course and a campus tour.
Approximately 2 o`clock in the afternoon, many faculties came to Luce Pavilion for our activity. Some of them were newcomers, others were our old friends and have participated in our activities several times before. Ms. Chen, the director of IFC, has prepared for them an interesting course of Chinese language, during which they got to know some basic grammars and with the guide of Ms. Chen practiced three daily yet very useful dialogues, such as greetings and inquiry of phone numbers. The faculties struggled to grasp the rules of pronunciation and meanings of the sentences. They are all active learners, automatically repeating new vocabularies after Ms. Chen every time. Having practiced with each other, they made progress exponentially and benefited a lot from this course.
The Chinese course lasted about an hour and after that the faculties went outside and set off their campus tour. Beijing`s fall is the most fascinating season of the entire year. In September, the leaves are not yet to turn yellow and fall off from the trees, but the breeze drives the summer heat away and makes the weather most comfortable. The fine weather brought our campus tour to a new level of fun. Guided by Ms. Liu Tian and Dr. Hayden Alexander Park White from the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, our faculties paid a visit to some of the landmarks in PKU, such as the West Gate, Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology, Statue of Cai Yuanpei. These two experts not only guided us through the tour, but also introduced in detail the history and architectural structures and styles of these sites. Some of the participants were amazed by the profundity and delicacy of our university`s cultural heritages. They said the tour allowed them to visit some concerns of the campus that they never even heard of before and get to know more about PKU.
Unfortunately, time flies and all good things has to come to an end. Beneath the Boya Pagoda, our tour reached its destination, so was our activity for the day. Not only is this event about introducing Chinese language and our campus to foreign experts, but also establishing a platform for them to communicate with each other, maybe exchanging some useful tips here and sharing good times together. After the tour, all participants took a photo under the Pagoda and bade farewell to each other. Unwilling as it may be, it brought us a little comfort that we will see each other again in our next event.
