‘Amazing Race’ Competition for Students of ARA Institute of Canterbury in FGS South Island

As part of their orientation-week programme, newly enrolled students of Medical Imaging Department, ARA Institute of Canterbury Christchurch, had to participate in an ‘Amazing Race’ competition at a few stations in Christchurch City on 31st May 2019. Fo Guang Shan (FGS) Temple South Island was selected as one the stations for the competition.

According to the competition instructions, 14 students arrived at Fo Guang Yuan (FGY) Art Gallery Christchurch at different times to participate in the competition. They were attended to by Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) member Juin-Mei Chang. The students were divided into 5 groups, and each group was required to correctly answer a question given to them before they could get a new card containing instruction informing them of their next station. At FGY station, the questions asked by Juin-Mei were all related to Buddhism, namely, how to write the word ‘Buddha’ in English? Buddhism originated from which country? How many years have passed since the founding of Buddhism? What are the fundamental greeting manners of a Buddhist? What is the name of FGS South Island in English? Time was the essence of the competition and the students had to really scramble for time in their attempts.  Some of the groups were able to answer easily and pass the test quickly, while others had problem answering and had to be repeatedly provided with clue before arriving at the correct answer. Finally, all 5 groups separately passed the tests and proceeded to the next station.

Before leaving for their next destination, the students spent a little time looking at the Temple. They were awe struck by the artistic ambience of the Temple and its Art Gallery and could not believe it to be a Buddhist temple. Some of the students expressed the wish to return for a visit and spend more time appreciating its every corner in greater detail. This competition not only energised the bodies and minds of the students, but also provided them the opportunity to visit a Buddhist temple and discover Buddhism, thus planting the seeds of Buddhism in them.