Students of the Cross-Cultural Internship Program (CCIP) took part in the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival on Sat, August 7 and Sun, August 8. The festival took place at the Flushing Meadows Lake and attracted over 10,000 spectators. This year, the festival celebrated its 20th anniversary and had its highest number of participating teams.

Students hosted a booth (Chinese Cultural Workshop) and raced in the competition. The racing team, made up of 14 CCIP students and FUSIA staff members, embodied the spirit of cooperation which spanned different cultures. Each participant wore a unique T-shirt featuring a five person icon symbolizing diversity and the synergy of unique differences through teamwork to accomplish great things.

The team took part in four races, including the 250 meter and 500 meter races. Yan Yi (Teresa), a student of the University of Hong Kong was the team captain. She said, "Our team was brilliant! It was our first time rowing. It was a boost to our confidence when the time we set was must faster than our trial. We couldn't have done it without the dedication of our rowers, drummer and steering man. As everyone was fresh, we did encounter some problems in our practice, but it turned out to be a memorable learning experience."

Aside from the races, 12 CCIP students manned the booth: a cultural workshop teaching kids three activities: Japanese origami, Chinese paper-cutting and using water-painting and finger-painting techniques to draw on hand-made fans.

Bowie was involved from the very start of planning. She commented, "We started the planning in April before we arrived. At that time, we had no idea about New York, so it was especially challenging. It is not so much about the achievement, but our participation. I am very delighted that all the volunteers were so friendly and helpful. Even the rowers helped out to in manning the workshops. In short, the weekend was great. We had as much fun as the children did in the workshops."

In addition to the booth and race activities, a group of enterprising business students devised the idea of raising money to cover the booth's expenses by selling burgers. The goal was $310. The students had successfully raised $259.

Hon Man Kwong (Clarence), a student of the University of Hong Kong majoring in Economics and Finance, not only took part in the racing, but also the burger team. He commented, "If you only focus on the figure, you may think we didn't reach our goal. But the friendships we have made, the joy we brought to the kids, and the experience we came away with definitely can't be measure in money."