The Cross Cultural Internship Program (CCIP) successfully hosted an appreciation and networking reception at the Cornell Club in Midtown Manhattan. More than 30 student representatives attended the reception, and expressed their gratitude towards the New York and New Jersey business communities.

Organized by FUSIA Communications (www.fusia.net), the CCIP program provides an opportunity for students get a glimpse of the globalizing marketplace by interning at different host companies in the program. This year, the program has reached 130 students and 34 participating companies.

The reception, organized by the CCIP students, aimed to express appreciation for the meaningful opportunities given by the host companies. More than 40 host company representatives were present. In addition, Zamruni Khalid, the Malaysia Consul; Samuel Pierre, Brooklyn Borough Director; Byron Lee, Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and Raymond Yeung of the Chinese University Alumni Association also came to the reception to show their support.

The reception lasted almost two and a half hours and kicked off with an appreciation ceremony and a video produced by the students. The video documented the students' gratitude to the host companies and their experiences in New York. It was well received and ended with applause and laughter from the audience.

The video was followed by a speech given by Elizabeth Kay, the founder of the program. Elizabeth hoped that students not only gained training experience, but also learned to appreciate those who have contributed to their growth.

Samuel Pierre, a Brooklyn Borough Director, gave a speech on behalf of the Mayor's Office in New York City. He began his speech by saying "Ni Hao" ("Hi" in Chinese). He praised the program's efforts by taking students from Asia and showing them a whole new world.

Raymond Yeung, another speaker and representative of the Chinese University Alumni Association, was impressed by the students' video. He praised the program for providing the Chinese University students with overseas internships through its Global Internship Program

In addition, three host company representatives shared their experiences. This included Leith ter Meulen of Landair Project Resources. She gave credit to the program for benefiting not only the students but herself as well. Bee Gee Summers of The Knot, Inc. highly recommended the students' performance. Walter Rivera of Rivera & Colon, another speaker, was deeply impressed by the maturity and professionalism of law students from the University of Hong Kong

The ceremony ended with the song 'Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)' presented by CCIP students. It expressed the students' sincere gratitude to their host companies, CCIP and the New York and Jersey City business communities.