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Intercultural conference starts at Changhua school

"The students are so excited. The foreign guests are staying in the students' homes, so the opportunities for genuine cross-cultural interaction are many."

Lewis Lu, Changhua Senior High School librarian

In 1985, Changhua Senior High School in Changhua County sent Lewis Lu (呂興忠), its librarian, to the US as part of a teacher exchange program to teach Chinese at Rogers High School in Michigan.

"My specialty was mainland Chinese literature and culture, but when students asked me about the literature and culture of my native Taiwan, I was stumped," Lu said be phone yesterday.

He added that the Chinese National Party's (KMT) sinocentric ideology had colored his education as a youth, leaving him in the dark as to the rich native literary traditions in Taiwan.

"So when I returned to Taiwan, I established the Taiwanese Literature Student Club at Changhua Senior High School to promote a deeper understanding of domestic literature," Lu added.

Smitten with globe-trotting, the librarian also brought back a worldview shaped by a newfound understanding of life outside of Taiwan.

Appropriating a buzz word from New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, Lu said he now seeks to promote the idea of "glocalization" among his students.

In addition to raising their awareness of "the local" -- or, in this case, native literature -- Lu seeks to enhance his students' understanding of "the global" as well as their connection to it.

Hence, the 2006 International Globalization Conference for High School Students on Intercultural Understanding -- a school event held this month spearheaded by Lu.

With teachers and students from six nations, as well as Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) in attendance, the Changhua Senior High School launched the conference's opening ceremony yesterday.

The week-long event to promote cross-cultural exchange officially began on Friday with the arrival of the international guests, and will end on Thursday.

"One teacher and three students per country are in attendance," Lu told the Taipei Times.

Members from sister high schools in New Zealand, India, South Africa, the US, Canada and the UK are currently in Taiwan to attend the conference, a press release said.

"The students are so excited. The foreign guests are staying in the students' homes, so the opportunities for genuine cross-cultural interaction are many," Lu added.

Delivering the opening speech yesterday, Tu said that the conference gave all involved "a wonderful chance to make new friends from other countries and gain awareness about their homelands and cultures."

"[Such ] encounters stimulate active exchanges of cultural information, ideas and experiences, leading to strong international youth networks, where young people can work together to enhance cooperation, as they learn more about the world and their place in it," Tu added.
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