08/15/2016．Huai-zhe Lu of the Department of English Attends the International German Olympics on Behalf of Taiwan

 




　
　

　

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Huai-zhe Lu (the fifth from the right) performed with contestants
from Japan, Korea, China, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan at the cultural night.Photo taken by Martin Christopher Welker
 







 


 August 15, 2016







 【News release: Public Relations Office】
     Huai-zhe Lu, a second-grade student of the Department of English of Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, attended the 2016 International German Olympics (IDO) on behalf of Taiwan in late July, marking the first time for Taiwan to participate in the contest. Before departing for Germany, Lu had produced a PowerPoint titled Why the World Can’t Go on without Taiwan, which was presented at his booth at the culture fair. He had also prepared costumes of the indigenous Paiwan people and glove puppets for the contest, and made business cards with the names of more than 20 contestants from other countries in Chinese, which were given to the contestants as customized gifts. Lu’s business cards were well-liked by the contestants, and his outstanding performance was covered at great length by local media; he has therefore successfully introduced Taiwan to the world.
     Aged 16, Lu majors in English and minors in German in Class C of the second grade of the Department of English. He won the first place in the selection contest organized by the Goethe-Institut Taipei this March and went to Berlin for the 2016 IDO on behalf of Taiwan from July 17th to 30th. In the contest, Lu worked with the other 124 contestants from 64 countries across the world to complete the contest requirements.　     According to Lu, this year’s IDO evaluated contestants’ intelligence and creativity. Contestants were required to pass three stages: completing a personal themed poster in three hours, completing a themed presentation in a group of five, and passing an on-site quiz. In the quiz, each contestant had to draw out a picture card and figure out the whole image using his/her imagination. In addition to the three stages, contestants had to attend the culture night performances arranged by the organizer and the culture fair at the Deutsches Technikmuseum (German Museum of Technology) to introduce their own cultures and interact with local residents.
     In the two cultural events arranged by the organizer, Lu performed with contestants from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea, and China. The team used Lu’s puppets of Electric-techno Third Prince (a deity in Chinese folk religion) and Formosan rock macaque to present their play, in which the characters used their lottery bonus to travel around the world. In the countries the characters went to, contestants representing their own countries performed to show their national characteristics. For the play, Lu put on the costumes of the indigenous Paiwan people and used glove puppets to connect the plots, thus successfully drawing the audience and the media to their play and marketing Taiwan.
     IDO is a biennial contest co-organized by the International German Teachers" Association (IDV) and the Goethe Institut (GI), which aims to encourage teenagers to learn German in a fun and entertaining way. To inspire Taiwanese students to learn German, Taiwan participated in this year’s contest for the first time. Participating countries had to select two outstanding students from selection contests, who would go to Germany for the finals on their countries’ behalf. In the finals, contestants from across the world competed with one another not only with language skills but also with abilities in cross-cultural communication and teamwork. The international jury evaluated contestants based on personal and team performance, and chose the best contestants based on the three language proficiency levels of A2, B1, and B2.
 








Photos provided by Huai-zhe Lu




 




Contestants of the 2016 International German Olympics took a group photo in front of the Brandenburger Gate, raising the curtain of the competition.Photo taken by Deutsche Welle












Huai-zhe Lu (first from the left) prepared for the presentation and quiz with students from Spain, Denmark, Russia, and Sri Lanka. 


Huai-zhe Lu performed glove puppetry.Photo provided by Bernhard Ludewig







  




Huai-zhe Lu completed his own poster in three hours. 
Huai-zhe Lu’s booth attracted visitors at the culture fair.











Huai-zhe Lu customized business cards as gifts for over 20 contestants. 


Huai-zhe Lu took a photo with his roommate from Pakistan.