College Ceremony

Nin Hao (Hello),

On Saturday, I attended the College of Mass Communication's (the college I am affiliated with at Shenzhen) student and alumni ceremony. I had the opportunity to meet briefly with the President Zhang Bigong of Shenzhen University and the Dean Wang of the college. Neither of whom spoke much English. The Dean seemed to take great pleasure in introducing his visiting professor (me) from the United States. But for me the real highlight was meeting the students and the faculty again from the college. I am getting to know some of the faculty more and they are slowly getting to know me. Several have invited me to have tea with them. I will probably take them up on their offer. A number of alumni attended (This is also a big fundraiser for the college.). I was told that several alum are famous directors of movies and television in China. There were also a number of journalists who graduated from the college in attendance. As the alum were given a brief introduction and invited to the stage, the President would give them a plaque and an arrangement of flowers. The alum seemed truly honored that the President was presenting them with these gifts.

Later in the program, the faculty, Dean, and President went to the stage. They sang several songs that the students seemed to really appreciate. The faculty and administration chorus sounded great to me! For most of the presentation, I did not understand a word that was spoken, but the nonverbal aspects of people's communication seemed to suggest that they were all having a good time! I'm glad that I had the opportunity to attend this event and compare how the Chinese conduct such ceremonies to the way we do similar ones at McKendree. It truly was a cultural experience for me. In the pictures, the President is the silver haired gentleman and the Dean is wearing a blue stripped shirt.

Today, my wife Linda arrives from the United States. I really look forward to seeing her. We plan to spend the next nine days touring different parts of China. Should be a great time!

Zai Jian (good bye),

Dr. Haskins