Shanghai Girls Discover New World
NEIRAD enilno edition
China Exchange guest student Lucy Ying sat back in her chair and appeared to be deep in thought. “The worst experience of my stay here might have been at lunchtime,” she said. I tensed, expecting her to describe some social injustice she had witnessed or perhaps, one she had experienced herself. “The rice, I don't like the rice here!” Lucy said.
This Neirad reporter visibly relaxed: to think that out of all the disquieting things she would have had to get used to, the first thing that comes to her mind is American rice! It is such a staple item in the China Exchange students’ life back home, that a scoop of rice, something that students at DHS hardly notice, much less comment on, can be a source of utter despair for a person from China.
Ten girls from Shanghai left on Tuesday, October 13, after spending a weekend at the nation's capital. Their visit to Darien was a fleeting two weeks of activities, discoveries, and experiences that were over in the blink of an eye.
Most people will not think of the exchange program until some of our students go to China in April, or even until an entire year has passed, and once again, we welcome a small group of Chinese students with a bright red banner hanging from the stairs across from the library each fall.
And yet the Shanghai girls have acquired memories that will stay with them long after they've settled back into their routine at school. They will remember seeing stained glass at the Met or attending a physics lab where Mr. George Marrash (pictured left) shot at a picture of a monkey to demonstrate how all objects are affected the same by gravity.
They will remember riding the New York City subway on their first day in America, and how they had to grip the poles tightly, being used to the smooth, straight subway tracks in China. Sophomore Emily Olsen, who is excited to be going to China this April with the exchange program, remembers the girls' visit to New York, especially the journey on foot from Central Park to the United Nations: more than 20 blocks of busy streets. “It was a looong walk,” she said, smiling at the memory.
And they will recall sitting in on a volleyball game and seeing exceptionally tall girls spike the ball with more force than they had ever imagined a high school team could display. The girls, who also play volleyball (along with softball, basketball, and cheerleading), were very impressed with our championship volleyball team. “They play like professionals,” Lucy said.
Another girl, Charlotte Yin, related her favorite moment: “We were in New York last weekend, and we went to my host sister's cousin's place, a tall, tall building... we went up, and I saw the city at night. It was beautiful.” It's moments like that, that ignites one's spirit and imprints itself in one's heart-- therein lies the true value of the China Exchange program. You can see it in Charlotte's eyes as she declares those last three words. You can tell that she means it, every bit.
For most of the students at DHS, the only change the China Exchange brought to their lives was a slight increase in the number of Asians at school. For the Chinese girls, it was an educational experience.
They indeed learned many things, not just about American culture in general, but more specifically, about us. Just as students at DHS have stereotypes abounding for all sorts of people; the girls frankly admitted that they had had some ill-founded presumptions before coming here. Ms. Shortliffe, one of the coordinators of the program, talked about how the girls took a lot away from seeing how varied our schedules are. “China is more focused on where they want to go,” she says.
“We think [in China] that American students are not busy... that they have no homework on holidays...” Lucy said. Then she adds, assertively, “... but we come here, and you are always hard-working and everyone is sociable, nice, and hospitable...”
They actually consider us to be a lot “busier” than they are, after witnessing the many extracurriculars in which we commit. And of course, they soon realized that the teachers here at DHS have no qualms whatsoever about giving us homework over weekends, both long and short. Well, one can dream.
