A team of seven from the TNUA Department of Theatre Arts visited Kiribati this summer on a 20-day teaching-learning exchange program sponsored by the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In order to win the ministry’s sponsorship, the team started carefully devising their plan and application in February. And once they were confirmed as one of the groups selected for the international young ambassador program, they geared up their preparations for the trip, designing and making all the props and materials they would need for their activities in the Pacific island nation.
The team, consisting of two teachers – Lin Ru-Ping and Chiang Jui-ming – three graduate students and two undergraduate juniors from the department, departed for Kiribati on July 13.
During their stay they taught various courses at two senior high schools in the capital city, Tarawa – the KGV&EBS and Moroni High School – including Chinese language and poetry, street dance, Taiwan’s indigenous songs and dances, and Peking Opera.
The team received a warm welcome and blended in the local culture quickly. Huang Yu-ching, one of the graduate students in the team, said the trip to Kiribati was an unforgettable learning tour. She said she can remember how upon their arrival the head of Taiwan’s agricultural mission in Kiribati – which provided them with accommodation during the trip – reminded them that the trip was not about playing the role of teachers, but about sharing. In return, the Kiribati students also taught them the Pacific country’s traditional arts, dances and songs, she said.
As the two schools were still having their regular classes at the time, the TNUA visitors could only spend two hours with the students every day during the trip. But both sides made good use of every minute of their meeting to learn from each other. Apart from their activities at the two high schools, the team, together with the ROC Ambassador Benjamin T.H. Ho, received a warm welcome at the presidential palace by Kiribati President Anote Tong.
On July 30, the ROC ambassador to Kiribati arranged a cultural night for the two high schools’ students and the TNUA team to demonstrate what they had leant from each other. The Kiribati president and his wife also graced the event with their presence, and danced together with the TNUA team.
The TNUA visitors won a loud applause for their South Pacific Kava dance and the night ended with a strong Taiwanese cultural flavor when the TNUA team released sky lanterns.