“Can we go back to China?” asks Ameena Eyo, eighth-grade Chinese Immersion student at North Junior High School.
Eighth-grade students from North and ninth-grade students from Apollo High School have just returned from a two-week educational trip to China and they are still abuzz from their experiences.
The Apollo and North students who went on the trip have been learning Chinese since they were in kindergarten. This year, St. Cloud Area School District is celebrating its 10 year anniversary of the Chinese Immersion Program.
The two-week trip was planned in coordination with St. Cloud State University and the Confucius Institute. Students experienced time in a Chinese elementary and high school, a weekend with a Chinese host family, presentations with ambassadors and Chinese students, and visited some of the historical sites of China such as the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.
A week after returning from their visit, the students were able to sit together to discuss their experiences. Though they acknowledged differences between Chinese and American cultures, the undercurrent theme of the discussion was how they are more alike than different.
“The Chinese students were really excited to see us,” said Taylor Gessner, an eighth-grader at North. “They even asked us for our autograph!”
“Everyone was so nice and polite–overly nice,” added Elizabeth Weitzel, ninth-grader. “Everyone wanted to take your picture.”
Most of the students agreed that the reality of traveling to China didn’t “sink in” until they were on the plane and landing in China.
That was when culture shock set in.
Students were amazed by the traffic. Several compared traffic to something akin to New York City, “but at full speed.” And similar to New York was street vendor food.
“The food is so different from what we have here in the states,” says ninth-grader Grace Leapaldt. “They eat all parts of the animal and [the] flavoring they use is something I’ve never experienced before.”
However, family life was much the same.
Each student was paired with a Chinese family with a child of a similar age. The families spent time putting puzzles together, siblings played video games, and they went to the mall to shop and watch movies like “Beauty and the Beast” and “Logan.”
“My host family was all sweet to each other,” explained eighth-grader Paris Hoel. “If you saw a commercial of a family being nice and cute, that was my family. That’s how cute they were.”
For eighth-grader Teddy Jeddeloh, the family stay was his favorite part of the trip. It was the one thing he was really looking forward to. For Ishmael Hall, it was the market.
Hall brags about his negotiating skills at market. “I got a belt that was 750 yuan, and I got it down to 30 yuan.”
Charith Rozairo with the Confucius Institute and chaperone on the trip, explained,”This was such a great group of kids. We take college students annually and with these students, it was easier, not in a way of care, but there is less hand-holding. An example is when the students went to market. They all went on their own, engaging with the local vendors, negotiating prices for their items, asking questions. These kids know the language and were much more eager to get involved in the culture and communicate. These are really life-learning skills at an early age.”
The question remaining is: Has the experience given these students a new outlook on the world and their education?
A lot of the students have a new-found independence and confidence in themselves.
Many of the students have noticed a change in their behavior and the way they think.
Gessner says,”Going there [to China], I was extremely nervous that my Chinese wasn’t going to cut it and that I wasn’t going to be good enough. Being there, I realized I’m a lot more independent than I thought I would be. And, my Chinese is pretty good.”
Damian Floerke describes, “After washing my clothes there and having to be responsible for myself, I seem to be picking up more stuff and making sure everything looks good in the house.”
“I do things a lot quicker now,” adds Hall. “Like if my parents tell me to take out the trash, I do it right away. Before I’d usually wait like 20 minutes.”
“When I move out [after graduation], I feel like I’ll be fine now,” says Hoel. “In the dorms, I had to figure out how to wash my clothes without knowing how to use the thing [Chinese wash machine]. I also feel like I’m more open to things like that now.”
The majority of the students are now considering studying abroad in China for a period of time during college. After hearing presentations from the US Embassy on possible job opportunities, some think it could be a good fit. Others like Floerke want to incorporate the career they always wanted with their language skills.
Floerke has always wanted to be a pilot. “I want to study here, but fly to China and back,” he says.
It’s a whole new world of opportunity out there for these Chinese Immersion students and as Gessner so aptly says, “I have a travel bug now.”
Video recap of the trip.
🙂
I cannot say that Teddy has been cleaner Ha ha