On Saturday, Nov.16, a group of American and Chinese students will venture to Heber Springs for a relationship building retreat. The retreat is sponsored by College Church of Christ and is led by junior Ray Zhang from Guangzhou, China.
“The purpose of this retreat is mostly to build relationships between the Chinese and American students,” Zhang said. “It is really important that (Chinese students) make more friends and get used to being here.”
Harding has an extensive history with China dating back to Harding’s second president, George S. Benson. Benson spent years in China as a missionary before becoming president. In recent years, Chinese presence on campus has been evident in various programs.
Though there have been ongoing efforts to build relationships among American and Chinese students, many students still feel that there is a divide between the two groups. Junior Joshua Buford describes the relationship between American and Chinese students as “an awkward separation.”
“(Chinese students) do their own thing and we keep to ourselves so we don’t really talk,” Buford said. “I want to talk to them but it is really hard and intimidating sometimes.”
Zhang attributes difficulties in communication partly to the language barrier.
“It is really hard, at first, to start talking,” Zhang said. “Most of us don’t speak English and it takes months to get used to it, so it is easier to stick to the other Chinese people and not go out and meet Americans.”
Zhang, a member of Knights social club, won the Favorite International Student award last year at the Burksy’s award ceremony. He credited getting acclimated to Harding to his friends who were willing to spend time with him and have real and meaningful conversations with him. The retreat will consist of fun activities, sports, barbecue and a devotional.
Zhang’s best hope for the retreat is that the activities, food and devotional will help the students to form Christ-based friendships with each other.
“I’m excited to go on the retreat,” Buford said. “I love being friends with Ray and I can’t wait to meet more Chinese students. It sounds a lot less intimidating hanging out at Heber then trying to talk to someone in the caf.”
The retreat will be on Saturday, Nov.16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All faculty, students and staff are welcome to attend.
There will be a caravan leaving from campus and anyone who drives his or her own vehicle will be reimbursed up to $15. To get information on the event join the Facebook group “Marco Polo & his friends.” Zhang can be contacted at zzhang@harding.edu or (501)-827-9375.
