Peking University 中文
Peking University 中文
Current location: Home > News > Campus > Content
背景图

Freshman Cup - A Good Way to Promote Cultural Integration

Date:

“Freshman Cup” football match is the most influential ball game in PKU Shenzhen, which is sponsored by PKU Shenzhen Football Association. At the Autumn of each year, the football lovers from all departments get together at the football field. They buildup their bodies, communicate with each other and make friends through football matches. With the speeding up of the internationalization process of PKU Shenzhen, more and more overseas students join us. And this year, the international students, as a special community ,have formed their own football team for the very first time, which makes this year’s Cup worth more expectation. We interviewed a few represents of the international students and asked a few questions about football and the Cup.



1. From the perspective of an international student, what do you think is the greatest meaning of the Cup.
Sergei Ivanov (Russia): I believe that the Cup is a wonderful way to meet Chinese and international peers with the same hobby and to look at each other out of classes; even the Cup has not started yet, we (Chinese and internationals students) have already had a lot of meetings, discussions about football uniform, trainings, etc. Of course this communication helps to all of us to break intercultural barriers and know each other a bit better.    
Jan T. Roschke (Germany ): I see the Cup and our Int. team as a chance to live my passion for football. Team spirit, challenging competition on the field and lots of fun!

2. As the captain of international football team, what kind of outcome do you expect of the Cup.
Sergei Ivanov (Russia):  First of all, I would like to mention that there are three people who set up the team: Nathan Richter, Jan Roschke and myself. Since three of us came from different parts of the world and our team consists of members from 12 different countries, daily coordination within the team is already a good experience of cross-cultural communication.
Also as the captain, I have to be in contact with the president of PKU football association and with the captains of other teams. This helps a lot to make friends within Chinese students, to see how the association organizes the Cup and to understand better how our university works.
I suppose that all of this is a great outcome for personal development.   

3.Where do you come from?  What do you think of football atmosphere here?
Jan T. Roschke (Germany ):I am from Berlin/Germany and I admit that I was delighted to find that PKU does not only have its University Team, but also organizes its internal league where faculties play each other. The ratio of fun/seriousness with which this topic is approached is, in my opinion, very well balanced.
Nathan Richter (USA) :I am from the United States, where football is not very popular. I think that the football atmosphere on campus is great. Many people are fans of football, play regularly and there are many great players on campus, both Chinese and foreigners.
Michael Li (New Zealand): I am originally from China but moved to New Zealand when I was young, I did not play much soccer before coming here, but I think China has a great football environment because I can see that a lot if the people actually really like playing soccer and most of the schools and university has a soccer field, which is not a common thing in New Zealand as our national sport is rugby.

4.How much do you know about the Chinese football. Do you have any suggestion for the promotion of Chinese football.
Michael Li (New Zealand):  I am a big fan of the Guang Zhou Heng Da football club and my favorite player is Dario Conca, other than that I do not know much about the Chinese football
 Ivan Arias (Chile): I know just a little bit. I’ve only watched some football trainings at PKU, but it’s worldwide known that Chinese players run a lot.
5.What do you think are the biggest differences between Chinese football players and foreign payers.
Ivan Arias (Chile):Right now I think that the biggest difference between international and Chinese students is that Chinese students have been training and playing football together for a longer time, so they have more experience, which I think is really important when you are playing against other teams.
Nathan Richter (USA) :I do not think the differences on campus are so great. The Chinese players are technically skilled and are very fast. The international students are also very technically skilled but are perhaps more physical on the pitch.

6.How often do you play football? Can you talk about your understanding of football.
Sergei Ivanov (Russia): I play 2 or 3 times a week. I am not a professional player and my understanding of the game is at the amateur level. But I like to watch Barclays Premier league, analyze strategies of teams and try to implement it on the field. I believe it helps to play better.
Jan T. Roschke (Germany): As often as possible. I understand football as a sport that unites physical fitness with tactical intelligence and combines it with the ability to handle a ball while still relying on teamplay. Although football is generally perceived as competition it brings people together and connects on a level beyond cultural or linguistic differences. The continuous integration of an international team representing several nations here in China, is therefore a great step forward, according to my cross-cultural understanding.    

Andy Chen (The head of PKU Shenzhen Football Association): Football is an international language, which connects the people from the five continents. As the world’s most popular game, football is also loved by Chinese people. What’s the biggest goal of the Cup? Put simply, we hope to make the freshmen integrate with the new environment better, and promote the communication between Chinese students and international students through the Cup. More importantly, cultivating the student’s spirit of pursing glory and victory.

Written by Andrew Chen and Molly Chen


Scroll to top

Latest News

MORE
Links
Your PKUSZ
Follow Us

Copyright © 2021 Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School. All rights reserved. Email: iao@pku.edu.cn

粤ICP备12081285号