The theme of tonight's activities is "Bridges of Friendship." I cannot think of a name that describes better what this exchange program is all about. Bridges allow us to go from one side of a river to another quickly and with a minimum amount of difficulty. The stronger and sturdier a bridge is, the safer people feel crossing it, and it becomes easier for people to cross it.

And this is what this exchange program is all about — building bridges, metaphorical ones of course, because they are bridges of friendship. And the stronger and sturdier we, the students and faculty assembled here tonight, build this bridge, the safer others will feel in crossing this bridge and making friends. The stronger and sturdier we make this bridge, the easier it will be for others to cross this bridge and make friends.

I have seen much evidence that this bridge we are building is both strong and sturdy. There have been many dinner parties, for sure, and in building friendships sharing food is important. But, there has also been basketball and badminton, tutoring each other in both English and Chinese, excursions to Star Lake and Dinghushan. There has been the sharing of photographs and the stories that go with them. The Chinese students have come to our dormitories to interview us, and learn something about how we live, and we have been invited to the dormitories to have lunch with the Chinese students, and to learn more about how they live. We have experienced Mid-Autumn Festival, and eaten many Mooncakes! We have also shared in celebrating your 50th anniversary of National Day, and we were honored to do so. And, we have shared our stories about our holidays that we celebrate at home. And now, tonight we will perform for each other. In just over a month, I think we have laid the foundation for a very strong and sturdy bridge!

Therefore, let me conclude tonight by thanking all of you for such a warm welcome, and for your assistance in building this "Bridge of Friendship": Rang wo men cheng wei peng you (Let's be friends).