Students from Friedrich-Schiller-Gymnasium traveled over 8,000 kilometers from Germany to Taiwan, carrying with them curiosity, anticipation, and the kind of courage that belongs only to youth.
At the spacious, green-filled campus of Tunghai University, they experienced lantern painting, diabolo spinning, and Peking opera.
In Taiwan, lanterns are more than just a tool to light the night—they are vessels of stories. As paint flowed across the lanterns, our German friends wove together colors and heartfelt meanings: some wrote Chinese characters, while others combined symbols from both Taiwan and Germany.
Diabolo spinning is not only a skill but also a practice of patience. At first, it was inevitable to fumble, but through each throw and catch—accompanied by laughter, exclamations, and applause—we saw how learning became lighter through mutual help.
And in the moment they put on the opera costumes, our German friends transformed into another soul. In a brief yet vivid performance, they felt the cultural tension and beauty that transcends time and borders.
Culture has never been just performance, skill, or art—it is a bridge that connects people to people, and people to the world.
