Hunan's College Student Volunteers Serve Hangzhou Asian Games

2023-10-07

"All the best and good luck for China as well as Volunteers." This was a message sent by Tilak Dissanayak from Sri Lanka, who is a technical official responsible for shooting events at the Hangzhou Asian Games. It was to the student volunteers from the Xiangtan Institute of Technology (XIT) .

The 19th Asian Games is ongoing. Thirty XIT volunteers have been sticking to their post of traffic dispatching for days, setting up a bridge of communication and showcasing the image of Chinese youths with their warm language service and behavior.

Various Asian Games themed emblems are popular. Peng Yuan, a Class-2027 student majoring in Chinese Language is proud of her seven emblems, including a very precious one of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). She is responsible for journey coordination work.

She gained this emblem from an OCA official when she offered assistance to him for the second time. She helped revise the destination of his car-hailing order and communicated with the driver to ensure a safe and punctual arrival. When they met for the third time, she presented a new emblem which she specially bought in advance to the official. The official was surprised and happy, and patted her on the shoulder as they bid farewell.

She also exchanged emblems with other guests. For instance, she gave her Myanmar emblem to an American guest in exchange for his American ones, and obtained Indonesian and Malaysian ones from other guests. Such exchanges have promoted friendship between the strangers even from different countries and regions.

Chen Chaodong, a Class-2021 student in Administration major, has been prepared after the rehearsals, explanations, and colleagues' experience sharing for a few days. However, he still encountered some emergency situations.

A Japanese guest requested a change in his car-hailing destination after getting into the car, but the driver was unable to modify the order. In this circumstance, Chen Chaodong and another volunteer from Zhejiang University collaborated and rearranged the guest's journey appropriately.

Li Yang, an English major in Class-2023, is responsible for guiding the guests to board the vehicles. He overcame the challenges of different accents and fast-paced speech, and has made great improvements in his oral language and communication skills.

Liu Lu, an English major in Class-2022, made the decision to become an Asian Games volunteer with the intention of not only helping others but also discovering her own self-worth. She recognized the significance of this opportunity, realizing that it would provide her with knowledge and experience that cannot be attained solely through classroom education.

Tilak Dissanayak is a technical official in the shooting events. When he arrived at the Asian Games Village, Liu Lu helped him inquire about the fees associated with check-in luggage. Due to his fast-paced speaking, during the games, Liu Lu would often repeat his words to confirm the instructions before proceeding with follow-up operations in order to avoid any potential misunderstandings.

On the third evening, he sought help from Liu Lu to purchase Chinese mobile phone, clothes, and souvenirs. Liu recommended a local shopping mall and carefully wrote down the metro route and explained it in English. To express thanks, Tilak Dissanayak presented two cute pendants and a Sri Lanka emblem to Liu. He also left a message of gratitude to the volunteers for their support and help which created a "second home" for him.