9月27日晚，由对外合作交流处主办的2013年度外国专家迎新会在外国专家楼举行。曹德明校长出席迎新会并致辞。来自各院（系、部）约50名外国专家和30多位相关院系领导和外事秘书出席了迎新会。迎新会由对外合作交流处处长张红玲教授主持。
曹校长首先向外国专家们致欢迎辞。他介绍了上外的专业设置、办学特色和科研机构，阐述了我校国际化战略的最新举措。他指出，近年来上外致力于推进国际化教育，取得了丰硕的成就，其中外国专家的作用至关重要。他对外国专家的贡献表示衷心感谢，同时希望中外教师团结协作，继续为上外的发展贡献力量。
我校英语学院专家耶鲁安（Jeroen van de Weijer）教授作为资深外国专家代表致辞。他说，上外是一所很棒的大学，学校对教育环境非常重视，强调教学、研究和实践齐头并进。上外的学生聪明刻苦，热爱学习。他在上外执教的四年中，每天都有不同的惊喜。他祝愿新来的外国专家们尽快融入新环境，加强与同事之间的交流，了解学校发展的最新动态，享受在上海这个迷人城市生活和工作的快乐。
最后，曹校长向本年度新聘外国专家赠送校徽，对他们来我校任教表示欢迎。
在接下来的晚宴上，中外教师们欢聚一堂，相谈甚欢。迎新会在友好、热烈的氛围中圆满结束。
你们选择了正确的地方
——英语学院耶鲁安教授在2013年度外教迎新会的致辞
尊敬的外国专家们，校长先生，院长，工作人员以及同事们：
我叫Jeroen van de Weijer，是英语学院语言学教师。一转眼，今年已经是我在上外任教的第五个年头了，真是时光飞逝啊！
四年前刚来的时候，我对周围的情况还几乎一无所知。然而，过去的每一天都给我带来了新的惊喜。如果说过去的这四年我学到了什么，那就是学会迎接惊喜。迎接新的东西，珍视变化，调整自己，学会适应。
你们选择了正确的地方——上外是一所优秀的大学。
作为教师，我们何其幸运，可以投身于传播知识，散播理解的奇迹。你们应该会同意我的观点，即再没有比老师更有成就感的职业了；再没有比用心教学生更快乐的了；再没有比发现学生在理解能力和为人方面取得哪怕是小小的进步更欣慰的了。
所有这些快乐的感觉你都能在上外领略到。过去四年来，我感到上外的学生聪明刻苦，渴望学习，并且珍惜他们作为学生的身份和经历。
若你在虹口校区或是松江校区漫步，看看学生们组织的活动，感受他们的梦想，他们的集体意识。你也会享受到成为这集体中一份子的快乐。
你们选择了正确的地方——上海是一座伟大的城市。
当然，这座城市很大，但你不要被这个现象所迷惑。上海也可以像一个小城镇一样迷人。比如说，门口卖煎饼的阿姨在那里已经四年了，而她做煎饼的手艺是千百年来流传下来的老手艺。
如果你第一次买她的饼，她也许会友好的对你打招呼“侬好”。若你在她那里多买几次，她就会立刻记住你喜欢的口味，如微辣还是重辣。如果你定期买她的煎饼，她很快就会对你的一切了如指掌。
开个小玩笑。我的重点是，建立关系是从点滴开始的。不要将上海作为一个大的整体来看，你应该从你的街坊四邻开始熟悉起来，珍惜在这座城市度过的时光，你可以获得很多。
你们选择了正确的地方——中国是一个伟大的国家。
目前，中国在基础教育，特别是高等教育方面的投资已跃居世界前列。当其他国家在经济不景气的情况下纷纷削减教育开支的时候，中国在教育和科研方面的投入却在大幅度上涨。
当然，中国对教育的重视已经有上千年的传统了，这点在所有地方都可以看得到。一个朋友告诉我，他的女儿必须要通过三门笔试和两门口试才能考到一所学校，而这个学校实际上是一所幼儿园。
这种对教育的重视也许有一些头重脚轻，但我相信在未来的日子里，它会逐渐取得平衡。上外作为一所大学，也受益于研究，教学和实践的齐头并进。
上外始终致力于开拓创新，与时俱进。比方说，教室中引进了更多的教学设备，聘请优秀的专家们来给学生上课。而这些专家，就包括你们。
享受这里的教育环境，加强与周围同事的交流，了解校园内的最新动态，因为周围总是有很多事情在发生。
最后，你们选择了正确的地方——因为这里的美食。我们今晚是外国专家楼的客人，祝大家用餐愉快，度过一个美好的夜晚。祝你们享受在上外的时光，让每天都充实度过。
谢谢大家！
You Have Come to the Right Place
Dear foreign teachers, President, dear Deans, Staff, Colleagues,
My name is Jeroen van de Weijer, I am a teacher of linguistics in the English College. I just started my fifth year of teaching in SISU. Time has certainly flown by.
When I first arrived, four years ago, I had no idea what to expect. And still, every day that passes brings new surprises. If there is one thing that I learned during those four years, it is to learn to embrace those surprises. Embrace what is new, value the change, adjust yourself, adapt.
You have come to the right place. SISU is a wonderful university.
As teachers, we are enormously lucky to engage in the miracle of passing on knowledge, passing on understanding. There is no more fulfilling profession, I think you will agree, than that of the teacher. No greater satisfaction than knowing that a class has been well taught. No greater happiness than finding that students have advanced a little bit in their understanding, in their humanity.
And all of this happiness can be found right here, in SISU. In the past four years, I have found our SISU students are very bright, very eager to learn more, they can be extremely hard working and they value their experience as a group of students.
Walk around on Hongkou or Songjiang campus and see all their activities, their dreams, their sense of community. Enjoy the privilege of being part of that community.
You have come to the right place, Shanghai is a wonderful city.
The city is of course, enormous, but don’t let that deceive you. Shanghai can be small-town in its own charming ways. For instance, the lady selling jianbing outside has been the same for four years, and her basic technique of making jianbing has not changed for thousands of years.
If you buy her bing once, she may or may not have a friendly ‘nong hao’ for you. But if you buy from her a few times, she will quickly know how you like your bing – normal spicy or very spicy. And if you buy from her regularly, she will soon know all about you that you can offer to her in Chinese.
I am joking of course, but my point is, relations start small. You cannot take on Shanghai as a whole, so start with your neighborhood and explore. Enjoy your residence in the City, it has much to offer.
You have come to the right place. China is a wonderful country.
Among nations, China is increasingly at the frontier when it comes to education in general and higher education specifically. Whereas other countries have had to cut back on education in economic hard times, China invests an increasingly large percentage in education and research.
This emphasis on education of course has a tradition of centuries, and is apparent everywhere. A friend told me that his daughter had to take three written examinations and two oral ones to enter a particular school – That school in fact was a kindergarten.
So the emphasis on education may be a little heavy-handed sometimes, but I am sure this will balance itself it out in the years to come. Meanwhile, SISU benefits from its success as a university in which research, teaching and application of research in teaching go hand-in-hand.
The university is constantly renewing itself, updating, for instance by introducing more technology into the classroom and by hiring the best expertise to teach our students. That expertise, dear colleagues, is you.
Enjoy your education environment, talk to your colleagues, find out what’s going on in other departments, because something is always going on.
And, finally, you have come to the right place – for food. We are guests at the SISU Foreign Expert Building tonight, so I wish you all a happy evening and a good dinner. Enjoy your time at SISU and make the best of every day.
Thank you. Xiexie dajia.