On Oct. 25 and 26, Asia University held a culture exchange activity, “Service-Learning Camp for International Youth Leaders.” A youth volunteer team of 90 international and domestic students from 9 countries led by Shu-Zhen Luo, Chief of Service Learning Section at Asia University, participated in a two-day activity of cultural exchanges, including visiting Zi Nan Temple in Nan Tou, tasting cuisine of bamboo sprouts in JhuShan, and experiencing the beauty of Taiwan and the cultural features of Zhu Shan.

    The camp started at Asia University on Oct. 25 morning with a speech “The Essential Qualities Required for Leaders, Cooperation and Team Setup” by Section Chief Shu-Zhen Luo. The students got to know one another closely and learned the techniques of leadership through the interaction in the lively speech by Section Chief Luo. Next, an interesting group activity hosted by the International Volunteer Team of Asia University was designed to improve the interpersonal communication between international and domestic students.

  It was the fourth time that the International Volunteer Team of Asia University went to Malaysia to offer services this year. By sharing the volunteer experiences of international youths, they and the international students had the feedback and exchange of service-learning from one another. A Vietnamese student said that he was pleased to join the activity and hoped to take part in the domestic or international service-learning activities with the Volunteer Team in the future.

  On Oct. 26, Section Chief Luo took the students of the culture exchange camp to visit the Nature Education Area in Xitou of the Nantou County. Besides learning the ecology of the forest in Taiwan and the cultural features in Jhushan, they had a taste of the cuisine made by bamboo sprouts, the special product in Jhushan. “It’s fresh and interesting!” said the international students who came to Xitou and had the bamboo sprouts cuisine for the first time. Next they went to Jhushan Zi Nan Temple to understand the temple culture in Taiwan. By the arrangement of the local foundation, they experienced Taiwanese customs and made bamboo windmills with hands under the instruction of a bamboo-weaving master.

  Ms. Luo said that it was through the “ecology visit in Nantou” that the culture exchange camp was expected not only to offer the students the concept of service-learning for youth leaders, but also to introduce Taiwanese cultures to the world by experiencing the beauty of humanity.

  Xin-Hui Yu, a student from the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at Asia University, said that she got a chance through the camp to communicate with international students from different countries. Despite the language barrier, she used limited English and body languages to gain a productive exchange experience in the end.