Vermont International Festival

Visiting Scholars from China

 The first weekend in December was extremely for the Visiting Scholars and the staff at the Asian Studies Outreach Program. For the third year in a row, ASOP and the Visiting Scholars participated at the Vermont International Festival. We hosted five tables: two were used for displays, and three were used by the Visiting Scholars who had hands-on art activities ready for the thousands of Vermonters that visited the 3-day event. According the the organizers, over 1000 students attended the School Programs Day on Friday, December 1st, and another 5000 participants attended the event in total over three days. Below, one of the Visiting Scholar from China, Jianhong, shares her thoughts on the event.

Thitima and Sukanya at Festival

From December the 2^nd to 4^th we took part in the Vermont International Festival at Essex Junction.We four Chinese teachers divided the tasks. One wrote Chinese calligraphy and one folded lucky stars and one folded paper butterflies and the other did blow paintings. Most kids are fascinated with writing their names in Chinese calligraphy. They kept saying, “Beautiful!”, “Amazing!” One Chinese teacher also performed Taichi while the others were singing an ancient Chinese poem song. These activities offer the Americans the opportunity of being more exposed to Chinese culture.

Seeing the big crowds standing in front of our booth, I think it necessary to have more exchange activities between American people and Chinese people, because these activities can enhance understanding and enrich cultures.