A presentation focusing on “Culture & Communication”, one of the programs for the British Cultural Festival, was held in the lecture hall of the college library on Dec. 8, 2014 as previously scheduled. This time the keynote speakers were Ms. Maria from Australia and Professor Zhu Shichang from SICFL. Many students from other department fetched their own chairs to attend the lecture and there were even many students standing for nearly two hours.

Maira gave the audience an introduction of the second largest city in Australia, Melbourne. She described the Federation Square, the tallest residence for the local dwellers, the beautiful beaches and bicycle culture, all of which held everybody’s attention. Besides, Maria pointed out proudly that Melbourne ranks the top in Australia and is the number two in the world which is most suitable for international students to live, study and stay. Maira also showed a short video to the audience, from which we saw many familiar faces of the students from our college.

By introducing the concept of the tale of two cities, Professor Zhu made a thorough comparison and contrast between the two cities, Melbourne and Shanghai, explaining in detail the cultural clash between the two cities in two countries. With his own life experience in Australia, Professor Zhu shared with the audience what he knows about the two cities. The students were excited from time to time by the inspiring speech, humorous language and active interaction. The students were able to understand the trivial differences between the words like “square” and “plaza”, were impressed by beach culture and the fragrance in the botanic gardens. His lecture enabled the students to have a clear understanding of the past, present and the future of Shanghai, a metropolis in the world. Encouraged by Professor Zhu, students asked him questions one after another. The whole presentation was concluded in such a lively atmosphere. The students were reluctant to leave the hall, saying that “such a presentation has not only broadened our views of the international perspective but also enabled us to taste what the target culture may offer us, which is certainly of paramount significance in the future learning.”