UT Arlington International Week (March 28 – April 2, 2004)

Members of the Taiwanese Student Association (TSA) participated in the UT Arlington sponsored International Week by promoting their country, Taiwan. The following is a diary of TSA activities during the week.

Sunday Afternoon, March 28^th.  We spent 7 hours setting up the exhibit.  The theme of the Taiwanese exhibit was "the Lantern Festival".  The designer, Kuo-Liang (Kenny) Liao spent about a year previously researching the subject matter.  This year marked the fourth time Kenny was put in charge of design.  Lots of Taiwanese students helped with the preparation and set-up, eventhough they also had papers, exams and projects that were due during the week.  Several types of creative lanterns were on display, sky lantern, dragon lantern, cruise ship lantern, hydrangea lantern, Hello Kitty lantern, Palace lantern, butterfly lantern, money basket lantern, candy cane lantern, lotus lantern, 3-D ball lantern and some red temple lanterns, inside the wooden temple structure.  The exhibit was the brightest, most colorful, and fantastic exhibit in the Bluebonnet Ballroom of the university center at UTA.  We received a lot of attention from international friends during the whole week.

Monday Noon, March 29^th. It was a great opening day.  Many visitors took photos in front of the Taiwanese Exhibit.  They loved our lanterns and ask us how to make them.  We did a great job again this year.  Some of them asked about Taiwanese president, Chen Shui-Bian.  We told them President Chen is fine and we are glad that he won the Presidential election this year.

Tuesday Noon, March 30^th. There was a food fair in the UTA center plaza.  We prepared some special Taiwanese food, like Tainan "Coffin" sandwiches, cool noodles, Kua-Bao buns, soy milk, bubble milk tea and shaved ice, to treat our international friends.  Ideas for the Taiwanese food came form Sally Lin, Joy Lin and others.  We enjoyed tasting different international foods.  Coffin sandwiches, cool noodles and Kua-Bao buns were new items this year and were very well received.

Wednesday Night, March 31^st. Ten beautiful models dressed in indigenous Taiwanese costumes praying for peace, stability, and prosperity for Taiwan.  The ideas came form Audrey Lai.  It was the most elegant, attractive and powerful fashion show.  Taiwanese Student Association impressed and touched the heart of everyone in the audience.

Thursday, April 1^st. There were more than 300 children visiting exhibits during the school visits day.  We taught them how to make simple paper lanterns and told them about Taiwan. We told them Taiwan is an Independent country and the shape of the Taiwan island resembles a sweet potato or a big whale.  All the kids loved our exhibit and told us our exhibit was the best and the most colorful.  We hang several types of creative lanterns inside the exhibit.  Each lantern had its own fans.

Thursday Night, April 1^st. There was a dance rehearsal in the Bluebonnet Ballroom of the university center at UTA.  Quency Kao was the choreographer of the Kung-Fu dance.  The idea was based on the Taiwanese movie, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".  In preparation for this event, all dancers have been practicing each weekend since the beginning of the year.  The rehearsal surprised the campus choreographer and the peer advisers of the international student office.  On Friday, a back flip photo of Quency was shown on the cover page of the campus newspaper, Shorthorn.  The title was "Global Spin" – TSA (Taiwanese Student Association) Rocks.

Check the campus newspaper website, http://www.theshorthorn.com/, for details of the article. Click “April 2^nd” on the recent issues bar or search by the title, "Global Spin".

Friday Night, April 2^nd. It was the last day of the I-Week activities.  Most visitors saw exhibits of their countries, but also came to see the Taiwanese Kung-Fu dance.  Many of them told us they came to see the Taiwanese exhibit because of martial arts.  They were surprised by the artistic nature of the dance.  We conquered their hearts.  Some kids wanted to take pictures with our performers.  The 7 Taiwanese dancers became instant martial arts idols.  It was the best performance on Friday night.  TSA rocks in the Bluebonnet Ballroom, again.

Additional photos of the I-Week may be found on the UTA-TSA website, http://www2.uta.edu/tsa/.

Acknowledgment The Taiwanese Student Association at UT Arlington deeply appreciates the support from the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of Taiwanese Association of America.  Without TAA-DFW's support, we couldn't have made it successfully during the International Week 2004 at UT Arlington.