subscribesubscriber servicescontact usabout ussite mapBuy a Classified
Tue, Nov 10 2009 

Published: April 30, 2008 11:55 pm    print this story  

LEW-PORT: Exchange program brings students to China

By Caitlin Murray
E-mail Caitlin

Niagara Gazette

While their peers were spending spring break on the beaches of Mexico and the Bahamas, one group of Lewiston-Porter students were somewhere just as exotic: Tianjin, China.

The group returned stateside last week from living with host families and attending No. 2 High School in China’s third-largest city, Tianjin. For three weeks, they studied the Chinese language and shadowed their host students in regular classes.

The school system was a big change of pace for the Lew-Port students.

“The girl that I stayed with was in eighth grade and I’m in eleventh,” said Erin Rougeux. “She was in a science above me and the same math as me.”

The advanced classes seemed to be a product of a stronger commitment to education, the students said. In Tianjin, students attend school six days a week and the school day runs from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Lewiston-Porter doesn’t offer Chinese language studies yet, but a couple of the students had studied Chinese before taking the trip. It didn’t help much, they said.

“Everything we had prepared for, we soon learned, was absolutely useless,” said junior James Ging.

“You know how we have slang everywhere we go in the States? They have slang in every province,” junior Marcus Jackson said. “We were learning proper Chinese when they all spoke slang, broken Chinese.”

Instead, the biggest lesson for the students, as sophomore James Otis put it, was “respect for different cultures.”

“Before I was like ‘Oh, that’s gross,’ ” he said. “And now that I’ve gone there, it’s like ‘Oh, they’re just used to this.’ It’s just how they do it.”

Sophomore Kelsey Munro said she had a lot in common, like shopping, with the teenagers abroad.

“They’re not that different,” she said. “They’re just like us, only they live in another country.”

That expanded cultural understanding is exactly what Principal Paul Casseri said he had hoped for in having his students study overseas.

“The goal is to help the students develop a cultural understanding of this very important East Asian country,” Casseri said. “This is a very important country that is taking a giant leap forward in terms of its role in the world.”

There was still some culture shock, though.

So-called Chinese food in America is not what the people in China are eating, the students said.

“They didn’t have egg rolls and I don’t know why,” said sophomore John Beattie.

Ging added: “I did not see one item of food on any of the menus that I would see here at a Chinese restaurant.”

Familiar fast food imports from America weren’t what students expected either.

KFC seemed to offer more fish than it did chicken, McDonald’s apple pie was replaced by pineapple pie and Pizza Hut was a fancy, sit-down restaurant where people dressed up.

“Over there, it’s an event to go to Pizza Hut,” Jackson said.

But the students mostly immersed themselves in Chinese culture, eating authentic Chinese cuisine and checking out some of the country’s historic sites — including the Great Wall and the Shi Mansion, where one of the prominent families of the Qing Dynasty had lived.

This trip was the first time Lewiston-Porter had sent students to study in another country, Casseri said. But students from No. 2 High School in Tianjin had visited Lew-Port in February — some of whom served as host students when Lew-Port students went to China.

“When we got off the bus and they arrived,” said Casseri who stayed for part of the trip, “I stood there next to the principal (of No. 2 High School) to see hugs and tears and the friendships they developed. That’s the most rewarding thing. Despite the language barrier, kids are kids.”

print this story  



autoconx
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide
Premier Guide

Find a job! Find a Home! Find a car!

Featured Jobs

Facilities Director
Facilities
Director 
Strategically manage commercial and residential portfolios onsite in US and Canada. Exe
...>MORE

Job Fair
HUMAN SERVICES
JOB FAIR
For COMMUNITY MISSIONS

Program Locations/Job Opportunities
working w/c
...>MORE

Activities Director
Activities Director FT AS Degree and /or or 3-5 yrs exp working in adult home. Send Resume To: Ransomville Manor at 35...>MORE

COLLECTORS
Exp. collectors, high hrly., low cash goals, 20% overage, 500 4 hitting, Chuck @ 597-2538...>MORE

Driver
Drivers CDLA. Must be able to go to Canada
Good pay, great benefits.
Call 278-2000 Ext. 106
...>MORE

Packers
Packers, General
Production & Assembly
1st, 2nd and 3rd shifts
Sanborn, Tonawanda
& Amherst.
Re
...>MORE

Assistant Director
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Alumni Relations (ft) sought by the Alumni Relations Department of Niagara University, a private
...>MORE

FLOOR ASSISTANT
Floor asst. needed for approx. 30-35 hrs/wk in a podiatry office, no exp. nec., will train, call between 12-2:30 pm for ...>MORE

Cook Manager
COOK /Manager full time exp. req. Call for appt. 297-2500 ask for general manager. ...>MORE

RN
RN, Director of Quality / Education: to plan, organize, develop and direct all staff development and CQI programs. North...>MORE

See all ads

Feature Autos

Ford Windstar 1998
FORD 1998 Windstar $1000 or best offer.
298-5220
...>MORE

1998 Ford F150
FORD 1998 F-150 XLT, 2-WD, supercab, 152k, good cond. $2900 or BO. 297-9184 or 698-5418....>MORE

VW 2001 Beetle
VW 2001 Beetle, loaded, GLX turbo, exc. cond, all service records, fun to drive, blue bk $5600, take best offer, 990-06...>MORE

2000 Dodge Caravan
DODGE 2000 Caravan, V6, power everything, excellent body, runs great, $2195. Call 754-4608....>MORE

Chevy 2007 Impala LT
CHEVY 2007 Impala LT
25,800 mi, ext. warranty
Exc. Cond, $16,500
297-2199
...>MORE

Buick 2005 LeSabre
BUICK 2005 Lesabre Custom, excellent condition, fully loaded, $6700 or best offer, 754-4540...>MORE

1996 Mazda L3000
MAZDA L3000 pick-up 1996, 6 cyl, runs good, new tires & battery, just inspect., $1500. 284-7529....>MORE

Mercury 1999 Grand Marquis
Mercury ‘99 Grand Marquis 4 dr, leather, all options, 49k org mi., showroom cond. $6000. 860-2854, ...>MORE

1991 Dodge Caravan
DODGE 1991 Caravan, exc body, runs great, full power, needs TLC. $1200 or BO. Call 754-4608....>MORE

1995 Plymouth Neon
Plymouth ‘95 Neon, 4 cyl, auto, 4 dr, exc in & out, 1 owner, only 56k orig. mi, no rust. $2195. 523-7102 ...>MORE

See all ads





 

Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.CNHI Classified Advertising NetworkCNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2009. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope and our Internet Yellow Pages site is powered by PremierGuide.
Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
View our Privacy Policy
Advertiser index