“Good morning! Dear Professors, Dear Organization Team, Dear Tutors, Dear Guests and Fellow students

It’s a great honor for me to send some remarks here today in the name of all students. Yesterday I asked my self, how could a short speech conclude the past four weeks? To be honest, I think it is impossible to meet this. Coming all from different countries and professions, we might have arrived here a month ago with different expectations and all of us have made their personal, quite unique experience. But we all have something in common. Something that connects us, something that will last as a shared memory: the 2023 shanghai summer school. Therefore: thank you for having us here!

So let’s reflect on our last month:

First of all, we can be proud of what we have achieved.

It took courage to go here for a month, far away from most our homes. For many of us this also has been the first time to be in China and to discover this rich country.

It took courage to leave behind our beloved ones, our familiar surroundings. So we can be proud. We’ve studied together, we struggled together with the Chinese language, when alipay somehow doesn’t work or sometimes even with the assignments. But we also laughed together, enjoyed the Chinese food, or were just amazed by this megacity. Maybe we haven’t really understand what the vendor or restaurant waiter told us, but after all, it worked out somehow everytime.

In the end: we made it. We worked together, we visited various sites in and around Shanghai. We learned a lot about the local biodiversity and the development of Shanghai. We learned from the lectures, from everyday experiences in the city and we learned from each other. Isn’t that, what this summer school is made for? To bring together various people from different backgrounds and learn from another? Sharing not only knowledge but also common values?

All this would not have been possible without many many engaged people.

So now it is time to say thank you. Thank you Tongji University for inviting us! We are, that I am confident enough to assume for all of us, grateful that you invited us to come here. The past weeks have been an amazing opportunity for us to both enjoy studying together at this renowned university and also to discover life in China - at least for a relatively short time.

Thank you also for the amazing organization: It is not a given to sleep in a hotel and being provided with free food at the cafeteria. We really appreciate it a lot and we also enjoyed the multiple well organized field trips and excursions. This well organized environment allowed us to fully enjoy the intercultural experience and workshops.

Thank you professors, teachers and tutors for sharing your knowledge with us! We’ve learned so much! And thank you for being patient with us when we keep insisting questions and hustled to finish our assignments. Your passion for the various topics often encouraged us gain interest in topics that we probably didn’t consider before.

Last but not least: thank you, fellow students, friends! Thank you for sharing your time, your courage and jokes. So let’s take home memories, intercultural understanding, knowledge and maybe even friendship.

I hope we all had an amazing time here! Thank you! 谢谢”