Our Final Night in Nei Jiang

Our final night in Nei Jiang began after a delightful and extremely satisfying meal.

We were then led to one of the school’s main assembly areas. When we had left that same assembly area prior to dinner it was pretty much plain looking and nothing out of the ordinary. However upon returning for the second time, there was a remarkable change. There were streams of colourful and shiny papers linked up from one end of the area to the other. There was also a mini-stage set up surrounded by chairs. A PA system was also set up and the main highlight; there was a roaring bonfire right in the middle of the assembly area, spreading warmth and a certain cheerful glow to all present.

The night’s events started with an impromptu sing-a-long session. A group of teachers started the ball rolling and lobbed a challenge across, asking the other side to continue singing another song starting with the one word they had ended on. Back and forth this volley went, with each side trying to out-guess the other group.

This was then followed by several performances by the teachers and students of the various schools. A performance worth mentioning was one where a group of teachers performed a Tibetan cultural dance complete with the traditional costumes and make up to boot. The team from NTU also sang several songs and taught those present a ‘Friendship Dance’.
However it was not all fun and games throughout the Farewell Night. There was a session where each of the members from NTU were attached to students from a not too well off group. The students exchanged some gifts and left us their addresses. The concept was that each of one of NTU students would ‘adopt’ one of the local students and in the future donate money for their education.

What followed was definitely the highlight of the night. All those present gathered around the bonfire and started to dance around the fire. It was explained that it was sort of a traditional dance and we went around and around the fire, dancing to a quickening beat and tune. We were also taught the ‘Rabbit Dance’, a hopping dance that a rabbit seems to do to escape from its hunters. Round and round we went around the fire, only stopping in the end due to sheer exhaustion.

We ended the night of by exchanging contact details with the teachers and students of Nei Jiang. We also took many photos of the night, which in my opinion were a poor cousin to the real experience.

It was definitely a great experience being immersed in such a colourful and welcoming culture. Memories of the farewell night and as well as of the previous 5 days in Nei Jiang would definitely be in a special part of their hearts for all the team members from NTU.