On November 16 evening, while it was cold and windy outside, the café at Shunde Building was filled with a warm and pleasant aroma. An English salon attended by candidates of the Tsinghua University – University of North Carolina (UNC) EMBA Program, international students of the industrial engineering department & Inter-University Program for Chinese language studies (IUP)and the Tsinghua-MIT International MBA candidates was taking place.

Initiated by alumnus Di Zhu(MBA 2008I), the event was aimed at providing a platform for more opportunities to communicate and extending the extra-curriculum activities among the EMBAs, MBAs and other alumna from both China and abroad. The salon started with an introduction of the Elevator Etiquette in the US by a teacher from the School of Foreign Studies, and the relaxing topic and passionate participation by the students present ignited the atmosphere at the café. The moderator subsequently handed out cards to students from different departments and classes, encouraging them to communicate in the English language. The students were supposed to exchange the cards upon finishing their communication, and those with the most frequent exchanges will receive a secret award. The interesting arrangements and relaxing atmosphere stimulated the students’ willingness to communicate in English.

 

Interaction between the moderator and the guest at beginning of the event

 

Pro-active participation in the Q&A session

Liu Xunshu, an EMBA candidate from Qilu Petrochemical, said it was the first time for him to attend events like this and he felt very excited about and valued a lot the opportunity to exchange points of views with fellow students from different countries and programs. After talking with Henry Foo from the USA, an IMBA program candidate, Liu said he not only practiced his English communication proficiency, but also felt the vigor and vitality of the Tsinghua people. Zheng Xiaomei, another EMBA candidate in the tea business, discussed China’s tea culture in English with the candidates from the IMBA program and sent her warm invitations to all the students to try tea picking and tasting at her own plant. Impressed by the salon arrangements, Frances from Britain, an IMBA candidate, said the communication with the EMBA candidates from different industries and students from the industrial engineering department gave her more understanding of the Chinese culture and broadened her MBA life.

 

In-depth communication between EMBA candidate and the guest

In the end, EMBA candidate Liu Xunshu won the big award with the largest number of cards exchanged, and the salon concluded with happiness and laughter. Alumnus Di Zhu(MBA 2008I), the organizer, said more events like this should take place in the future to facilitate communication among the students and contribute to the development of the MBA & EMBA programs. (Chinese version contributed by Jay Hu, IMBA class of 2014)

 

Photo time for IMBA and EMBA candidates