Day One of Exchange Program between TCU and USM

Text: Lee Chia-Yi

Translator: Fang Kai-Ping

January 13, 2016, marked the inauguration of a two credit hour exchange program held in collaboration by Tzu Chi University (TCU) and University of Science Malaysia (USM). Prof. Chen Peixuan of USM mentioned in her address that Taiwan and Malaysia share as many similarities as dissimilarities, and only by visiting in person can one truly comprehend and appreciate these complex cultural dimensions. TCU and USM signed a sister university agreement back in 2004. This exchange program is the third short-term exchange between the two universities, and the first to be held at TCU.

慈濟大學與馬來西亞理科大學自1/13日到22日進行短期兩學分的交流活動，今天舉行開幕式，馬來西亞理科大學陳珮璇教授致詞表示，馬來西亞和台灣有很多相似也有很多不一樣的地方，他認為只有到當地才能真正認識當地的文化，希望同學能彼此多多分享。慈大與馬來西亞理科大學在2004年簽訂交流合作，但這是兩校第三次的短期課程交流，也是第一次邀請馬來西亞學生到慈大來。

Last year Sept., 16 TCU students visited USM to attend full English lectures, said Dir. Huang Sen-Fang of Center of Physical Education, TCU. One of the lectures worth mentioning was Lifestyle & Cultural Impact on Health, he said, where all the participating students were arranged to live with families of local Malaysian community. The course was designed for the students to closely observe the Malaysian traditions and culture, and identify its potential long term health impacts.

慈大體育教學中心黃森芳主任表示，去年九月慈大16位學生到理科大學進行全英文課程。其中課程中有個單元是「 Lifestyle & Cultural Impact on Health｣，安排所有參與課程的學生到市郊傳統馬來人社區家庭住宿，並與馬來人一起生活，體驗馬來人傳統生活方式與文化，觀察與體驗馬來人文化與生活型態對人體健康的可能影響。

Dir. Huang is looking forward to building a solid model of collaboration between the two universities, such as exchange at USM during summer vacation, and at TCU during winter vacation. The credit hours would be recognized by both universities as an incentive for students to travel abroad, to expand their horizon, and also to facilitate their motivation to study English.

黃森芳主任希望建立兩校固定的合作模式，例如暑假慈大同學到理科大學交流，寒假在慈大交流，學分是兩校都承認，鼓勵同學參加，增加國際視野外，尤其是經過交流後，同學會深刻體驗到英文的重要，增加學習英文的動機。

The winter vacation exchange program at TCU is titled “The humanities in folk activities in Taiwan”, which entails the cognition of Tzu Chi culture, and taking part in Taiwanese folk activities. To facilitate sharing and mutual bonding among students of two distinct cultures, TCU arranges a presentation at the end of the program that requires that efforts from the students of both universities to accomplish.

寒假到慈大的課程為「The humanities in folk activities in Taiwan｣，包括慈濟人文的認識與體驗，和台灣民俗活動的體驗，為了讓台灣和馬來西亞學生能夠多分享，學校安排最後一堂課兩校學生要一起進行報告，希望透過兩國年輕人彼此了解，讓地球村的每一分子都能夠互相友愛，互相幫助。

Among the attendees, there are 13 students and 2 teachers from USM, and 30 students and 11 teachers from TCU. There are 3 TCU students assigned as translators to assist the USM visitors with their daily needs. A fascinating fact is that, among the TCU students, there are Taiwanese, Malaysians and South Africans, creating a more diversified congregation than originally anticipated.

馬來西亞理科大學參加的有13位學生，2位老師，慈大有30位學生，11位老師參加，其中慈大約2-3位台灣學生在這一星期將協助翻譯等生活上的問題。有趣的是慈大除了台灣籍學生外，還有馬來西亞和南非的學生，形成多國文化交流的有趣現象。

Out of the 30 students from TCU, 7 of them had prior experience in the exchange program at Malaysia. “I have received a warm welcome at USM during summer vacation,” said Lu Guan-Yu, a 2nd year medical student. “I have come to realize that without engaging in dialogues with people from certain cultural background, what we read in books are just words. Islamic people, for example, are very hospitable and cheerful, which was quite different than how I imagined.”

30位學生中有七位去年暑到馬來西亞交流的學生，醫學二陸冠廷表示，暑假在理科大學受到熱情招待。他認為很多東西都只有在課本上讀到，只有透過交流才會了解，例如對伊斯蘭教的認識，他們的人很和善，很開朗，和印象中的不一樣。

The students from USM had their first earthquake in life earlier this morning, and now they are looking forward to more never-before surprises in Taiwan.

理科大學的學生今天早上就遇到人生中的第一次地震，他們也覺得很難得，希望在台灣能夠有更多不一樣體驗。