Culture Challenge

The winning Cultural Challenge team members Bangor University international students celebrated cultural diversity and collaboration recently (Saturday 03.03.12) with an action-packed Culture Challenge.

Organised by the University’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) and the International Student Support Office, the Culture Challenge saw six teams made up of two Chinese and two overseas students go head to head in a presentation round and a general knowledge quiz.

The teams were asked to find a creative way to present the culture of one or more of the team members’ native countries to a panel of five judges. Alan Edwards (International Student Support), David Andrews (ELCOS), Andrew Griffith (IEC), Sarah Wale (Business School) and Shân Rees Roberts (Marketing) were spoilt for choice as one team laid out a mouth-watering spread of dishes from China, Italy and Korea on the judges’ table for them to taste. Another team, dressed as Princes and Princesses from their native countries, acted out a scene in which each sovereign discussed the cultural merits of their own realms.

In round two, contestants were first shown a series of flags and asked to identify to which country they belonged. They were later given general knowledge questions on the culture, sport, geography, language, religions, landmarks, famous figures and history of countries from around the world.

In a very close call, the winners of the competition were Jin Hao and Liu Xin from China, Mauro Marchei from Italy and Yueun Chung from Korea. They began the competition by presenting the words “culture” and “friendship” in their native languages and then, dressed in native costume, presented the traditions and cultures of their team members’ home countries.

They won an all expenses paid two night trip to Cardiff, where they will visit the Senedd and meet the Rt. Hon. Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, President of Bangor University. They will also visit the National Museum of Wales, Sain Ffagan National History Museum and some of the charming sights of Wales’ capital city. Each member of the team that took second place was awarded a £20 Amazon voucher and £10 vouchers were given to those in third place.

Head of International Student Support Alan Edwards said of the event: “Although a fun and lively competition, the Culture Challenge also enabled the participating students to learn more about each other’s countries and cultures. All the presentations were excellent and it was obvious that the teams had worked hard to make them both fun and informative. We aim to repeat the competition next year and hope that way more students will take part from the wide variety of nationalities represented at the University.”

Publication date: 8 March 2012