As Changchun hosts the 33rd FISU Winter World University Games, young volunteers from Jilin University’s School of Foreign Languages and Cultures serve as the first ambassadors, warmly welcoming guests and bridging cultures.

These student volunteers support the event with language assistance, guest reception, and cultural exchange, acting as a window for the world to see the spirit of contemporary Chinese youth.

Volunteer preparation work for the event began in early 2026. Before the winter vacation ended, the first group of student volunteers had already entered intensive training. They scrutinized bilingual documents, revised foreign affairs correspondence, and studied terminology specific to the Games alongside cross-cultural etiquette. 

In their view, language is never just a communication tool. It embodies understanding, respect, and mutual trust. Minor misunderstandings may hurt feelings in international interactions, while professional and sincere communication can instantly bridge the distance between people.

When recruitment opened in spring, more than 200 students from the school applied. They brought diverse language backgrounds, including English, Russian, Japanese, Spanish, Korean and French. After rigorous selection procedures, they became an essential part of the official volunteer team. One training instruction stayed with them: “You represent not only yourselves, but also this university, this city, and Chinese youth in the eyes of foreign friends.”

Many students came to realize that international communication is never merely about grand diplomatic narratives. It also lies in patient guidance, sincere greetings, and attentive listening.

What the students have learned on the ground goes beyond translation. They navigate diverse communication norms shaped by different cultural backgrounds. They help foreign visitors settle in — answering practical questions, easing logistical anxieties, and occasionally resolving multilingual emergencies in real time. Some have come to recognize subtle cultural disparities behind routine polite expressions; others have realized, while sorting out foreign guests’ requests late into the night, that international communication is not an abstract diplomatic exercise but a series of small, human moments.

2026 also marks the 80th anniversary of Jilin University’s founding. The university was established in response to national needs eight decades ago. Today, it continues to encourage students to keep pace with changing times. The nature of that engagement has shifted — from early generations pursuing academic excellence for national development to today’s students taking part in global exchanges and cross-cultural dialogue. What remains constant is a sense of outward responsibility. That continuity is quietly visible in the university’s young volunteers. Still undergraduates, they try to understand the world, navigate cultural differences, and present China with openness rather than defensiveness.

The snow and ice of the Games will eventually melt. But the mutual understanding built between people tends to last longer. For these student volunteers, the experience is more than a line on a résumé. It is a practical education — in how the world works, how communication succeeds or fails, and what it means to take responsibility across borders.

Through unglamorous, day-to-day effort, they offer the world one more small window into contemporary China.