A new organization aims to bring people together to promote cross-cultural understanding, firstly in China but it will soon be rolled out world-wide.
Nearly everybody who lives in a foreign country is familiar with cultural exchanges. In fact, so much so, that the concept has almost become stereotypical.
However, recently a young man from Fuzhou, capital of Fujian Province, who moved to Shanghai in 1999 started a consulting firm and a club to allow locals and foreigners to trade their knowledge in relaxed and enjoyable environments.
The International Citizen Club promotes cross cultural exchanges and networking in English.
"We are building the platform to make it the gateway for expats to access Chinese culture and for local English speakers to access other cultures," explains Strong Lin, the club founder.
With its motto, "One world, one identity," he continues: "No matter which city you go to, we are aiming for there to be similar International Citizen Clubs."
Opening the first club locally in May this year he says: "We describe the club as a person in its infancy. Over the past three months, we have drawn a lot of attention from people working for multinational firms and expats working and living in the city."
"As everyone knows," the 33-year-old continues, "the first barrier for cultural exchanges is language, and English is the most spoken language in the international communities. So to promote cross cultural exchanges at the grass roots level requires a unified platform to build a community, bridging the cultural gap via communication among its members."
The idea of a culture exchange may raise questions, including already having similar communication channels, like people working in foreign firms having intensive communication with their foreign counterparts etc.
"People in work mostly talk about business and actual English exchanges are mostly for language study," Lin says.
The second barrier for cultural exchange is cultural stereotypes he continues. "Chinatowns around the world and the many foreign communities in major cities in China are examples of such a barrier."
The club has attracted many members but many people still think it's just a club for practicing English.
To combat this the International Citizen Club offers many different events to appeal to all aspects of cultural exchange. From organizing events like singles parties and self-service English corners, to offering an outlet for local members to explain different aspects of Chinese culture (like traditional teas) to foreign members divulging the popular haunts of the English speaking community.
"Few expats in China really go beyond their circle of Westerners because they know little about local people's lives. Many of our members at first expressed concern about the language barrier but the club has overcome this and now they are discovering all kinds of different aspects of the society that they live in which they did not know before," says Lin.
International citizen members are encouraged to make full use of their initiative.
"It's basically a self-governing club. When people arrive at the site, we choose volunteers to group them into small teams and ask them to play the role of ice-breakers," says Lin.
The staff then collect the members entertainment preferences before forwarding the information to the members who want to organize similar programs after the party.
Most of the events are set in comfortable, tranquil and fashionable surroundings as Lin says this is vital to promoting communication and making the party more enjoyable.
"From time to time, we organize some feature programs: in-club bargaining, killer games, outings etc," Lin says.
"This is the first step of the new 'Long March,"' he finishes.
"With the full implementation of the INT.citizen project, members or 'citizens' can, from the Website intcitizen.com (which is under construction) be able to enjoy a genuine community wherever they go, and live it up with locals. Local members are your most trustworthy source of tourist or local living information, and it's all free."
For most events of INT.citizen Club, participants are not required to pay admission excluding their refreshments at the venues.
(Shanghai Daily September 5, 2007)
