The Intercultural Celebration event organized by the Office of International Affairs this year highlighted friendships during the pandemic, with from diplomats and all those from TNUA sharing the fun and beauty of art.

The annual event has been a major international cultural exchange activity of TNUA, but had to be called off last year because of the pandemic.

But it returned this year with carnivalesque fun, adding excitement to the celebrations of TNUA’s 40th anniversary this year.

Foreign diplomats taking part in the event included: Guatemalan Charge d’Affaires Sussely Sanchez; Papua New Guinea Trade Representative Tommy Kambu Kunji; Syajaratud Durri Abdullah, director of economics at the Malaysian Freindship and Trade Center, Taipei; and some others from Canada, Honduras and Mongolia.

They received a warm welcome from TNUA President Prof. Chen Kai-Huang and other TNUA administrators.

Welcoming the guests, Prof. Chen noted that TNUA looks forward to more art and cultural exchanges with the diplomatic missions in the future.

Dean of International Affairs Dr. Yatin Lin described to the guests how life is like for foreign students at TNUA and explained to them the international programs that the university is promoting, including the ICDF funding for training of foreign students.

In line with the national policy, TNUA has enrolled many students from Latin America and Southeast Asia, Dr. Lin said, asking the guests to help send their countries’ outstanding students to TNUA.

The event featured a marketplace that offered a host of items including trinkets, hand-made soap, candles, cookies and coffee.

There were also performances by students, including: A piece of Indonesian music, “Jaran Sirig,” performed by students from the Department of Traditional Music; a dance, “Joged,” by three students from the Department of Dance; a traditional dance by a Mexican student in the IMCCI program; and a Mongolian graduate student playing the traditional instrument Khulsan khuur.