The second event of the Bon Voyage! Event Series (國際領航員系列活動), titled Memorial Days Around the World was hosted by the OGA on Wednesday, March 22. A total of 21 participants joined the OGA in this exciting trivia and DIY event. Due to the limited materials for the DIY segment, pre-event registration was capped at 30.

The event began with a brief introduction to ‘Memorial Day’, which was categorized into 3 broad types in this event: (1) Ancestor Worship/Veneration, (2) Otherworldly Souls (like ghosts), and (3) Other memorials (war, historical events, massacre, peace, etc.). The focus of the event was on the first two types, focusing on memorial days dedicated to ancestors and otherworldly souls.

In the second part, participants were invited to partake in a trivia quiz using Kahoot!, a game-based audience engagement tool. The trivia quizzed the contestants on their knowledge of the different memorial days around the globe, with the top 5 scorers each receiving a goody bag from the OGA at the end of the game. Celebrations that were in the quiz include the Qingming Festival (清明節), Pchum Ben (亡人節), Phi Ta Khon Festival (鬼臉節), Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead (亡靈節), and All Souls’ Day (諸靈節/萬靈節).

In the last segment, participants were invited to DIY Taiwanese Spring Rolls, one of the traditional foods enjoyed during the Qingming Festival in Taiwan. Besides live demonstrations from OGA staff, participants were shown a short video of how to make Taiwanese spring rolls.

Participants of the event improved their knowledge of memorial days around the world, thus also increasing their awareness of other cultures and heritages. Not only did the event enhance the participants’ worldviews, but also increased their English language skills via English execution. This aligns with the goals of the Ministry of Education’s Higher Education Sprout Project (高等教育深耕計畫).

The Bon Voyage! Event Series is a new series of cultural events for KMU students hosted by the OGA beginning in Spring 2023, with the goal of developing KMU students’ cultural competency and English language skills. This event series is part of the nationwide efforts of internationalization of university campuses (在地國際化) and the creation of more culturally inclusive campus environments (國際共融校園). The funding for the series comes from Taiwan’s Ministry of Education’s Higher Education Sprout Project (高等教育深耕計畫).