“...two years later, as a student learning Chinese and studying the implications of Asia’s growth to global economics, politics, and the environment, I consider my trip to China as the source of my interest in this region.”
David Herron, Gig Harbor High School, 2005

Need for the Program

China is a complex and rapidly changing country characterized by great vitality, tremendous growth, and ever-increasing global influence. Through immigration and trade, the Pacific Northwest has become inextricably linked to this country, and ties continue to broaden in depth and scope. In order to participate positively and effectively in this thriving cultural and commercial relationship, our students need an understanding of Chinese society, language, and culture, as well as personal connections with Chinese people. Our program meets these needs, and goes on to extend the benefits to our schools and community. Unlike many programs that simply bring American students to China as tourists, our program strives to maximize exposure to everyday life in China and foster personal connections between American and Chinese students.

Key features of our program:

• Two-way exchange – our students travel to China every year and their Chinese partners come visit us a half year later

• Weekend home stays for our students in China, and two-week home stays for the Chinese students in Gig Harbor

• Careful selection of students who will be good ambassadors, representing our school and community well in China

• Intensive pre-trip research and preparation

Benefits to the students:

• Gain awareness of a culture quite different from our own

• Strengthen Chinese language skills

• Develop relationships with Chinese partners that can lead to lifetime friendships and/or business relationships

• Focus academic and career goals

Benefits to the school and larger community:

• Increased school-wide awareness of our place in the global community and opportunity to interact with Chinese students

• Greater understanding of modern Chinese society among our high school students

• Strengthened ties between China and the Pacific Northwest, founded on student relationships

• Greater cultural understanding, which can help defuse tensions between the two countries

“What Stan [Chinese student partner] taught me and what the country itself made me realize cannot be learned in any textbook or taught by any teacher.”  Nathaniel Youngchild, Peninsula High School, 2007

How the Program Works

Each of the two high schools in our district has its own sister school in China. Gig Harbor High School is partnered with Tsinghua High School in Beijing, and Peninsula High School is partnered with Jinan No. 1 High School in Jinan, Shandong. Our sister schools are two of the best high schools in China. Tsinghua High School is attached to Tsinghua University, which is the “MIT” of China. Many of its students will go on to study at Tsinghua University and major in science and engineering. Jinan No. 1 High School is the top high school in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province.

Every year, we send a student delegation from each of our schools to their sister schools in China. The delegation – made up of sixteen students, two teachers, and one administrator – stays for two weeks in China. Most of that time is spent at the sister school, although the Gig Harbor High School group travels from Beijing to Shanghai for the last two days of their trip, and the Peninsula High School group begins their trip with two days in Beijing before traveling to Jinan. Prior to travel, the students study Chinese history and culture in a series of pre-travel workshops. They also develop presentations on a variety of aspects of American life to share at their sister schools.

During the time at their sister school, the American students are housed on campus, and each American student is matched with a Chinese partner. The American students spend several days at the sister school, attending classes with their Chinese partners, giving presentations, engaging in classroom discussions with Chinese students, taking classes and workshops specially designed for our delegation, and visiting local sites of historic and cultural significance. The highlight of their experience is their home stays, when they spend a weekend as guests in the homes of their Chinese partners.

Every year, the Chinese sister schools also send student delegations from their schools to ours for two weeks. The delegations are composed of the Chinese partners who hosted our American students the previous year, and typically two teachers and an administrator. The Chinese students stay with their American partners in their homes during their stay in our district. As with our visits to China, the Chinese students attend classes with their American partners, make presentations in our classrooms, attend special workshops, and tour many local attractions, including the State Capital, downtown Seattle, and the Microsoft campus.

Benefits of the Program

As we enter our fourth year of the exchange program, we are able to reflect on the benefits experienced by our students, our schools, and our community. The following is a synopsis of what we have accomplished:

• The two-way exchange allows students to develop strong personal connections with students in China that may well extend into their college years and develop into business relationships after graduation. During the half year between the time when the American students travel to China and when the Chinese delegation visits our community, most students stay in frequent email contact with their partners, and they continue communicating after the Chinese delegation returns home. This cycle enables students to develop long-standing friendships that “anchor” their intellectual understanding of China and the Chinese people in an emotional context. These personal connections may prove to be very valuable on a societal level when tensions arise between our two countries.

• Our school-to-school exchange gives American students a precious gift: They enter into the daily lives of Chinese people, coming away with a depth of understanding that far exceeds the superficial contact afforded by a typical tourist trip.

• When our students participate in the Chinese students’ lives for two weeks, they are able to draw comparisons, gain insights, and form perspectives that are not possible without stepping outside of their lives here in Washington. American participants who have begun studying Chinese at our schools are able to make huge gains while immersed in a Chinese language environment. They put their language skills to use in a variety of ways, including communicating with their partners’ parents during home stays and interpreting for the non-Chinese speaking members of the delegation, and they return to Chinese class in Gig Harbor with a deepened understanding of the language and renewed enthusiasm for study.

• We choose our participating students through a rigorous application process, selecting students who will act as confident and enthusiastic ambassadors for our school and community in China. Upon their return, the students share their experiences through a series of presentations they share with high school classes and community groups. The participating American teachers and administrators are able to exchange ideas with their Chinese counterparts about a wide range of topics in the field of education, ranging from pedagogy, to classroom management, to curriculum development.

Personal Statements from Exchange Participants

Following are four reflective essays written by students who have participated in the exchange program, two from each of our high schools.

David Herron – Gig Harbor High School, 2005

When I look back on my high school career, my involvement in the foreign exchange program to Tsinghua High School in Beijing stands out as a highlight. It was a life-changing, incredible adventure. As a sophomore, Gig Harbor was my reality. In contrast, Beijing presented a new lifestyle, with a history steeped in Buddhist tradition, a culture focused on responsibility and scholarly achievement, and a language that I could not begin to discern. The trip opened my eyes to the burgeoning demands of a growing China, and two years later, as a student learning Chinese and studying the implications of Asia’s growth to global economics, politics, and the environment, I consider my trip to China as the source of my interest in this region.

Through my friendship with my host partner, Lin Yun Fei, and through interactions with the other host students, I understand and appreciate the Chinese people more today. In particular, I deeply respect their diligence, work ethic, and devotion to school. Seeing my host partner strive so hard in school motivated me to mirror his efforts, even as many of my friends and peers resorted to updating their “My Space,” watching television, or playing video games instead.
As my interest in China increased, it began to affect my plans in life. I am now entering the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, with plans to continue studying Chinese until I reach a level of proficiency. My education began this year by taking Mrs. Heidi Steele’s first year course, a highly worthwhile class that masterfully blends writing characters, reading comprehension, listening, and speaking. My parents are in awe as they watch me write entire sentences in characters.

High school is a period of growth and self-definition in every student’s life. I cannot imagine any program more fruitful and dynamic than our school’s Chinese program, especially when coupled with enrollment in Chinese language courses. Personally, I continue to correspond with Lin Yun Fei via e-mail, and I eagerly anticipate accessing a language and culture more fully in the coming years. I can only hope others will have the ability and encouragement to take advantage of this opportunity.

“As China continues to grow in superpower status, it is important that we craft as many relationships as possible and strengthen existing ones.”

Daniel Fox – Gig Harbor High School, 2007

The exchange program with Tsinghua profoundly impacted my view of China and of the world in general. As Gig Harbor High students, we are fairly insulated from reality in our quiet, wealthy, suburban community. It’s one thing to read about the world and quite another thing to actually experience it. It is for this reason that the China exchange was so valuable for me personally. This program was an incredibly positive experience, and it really opened up my eyes to how other people live. The numbers of people alone threw me for a loop. On the streets of Beijing, thousands of bodies pushed, jostled, and went about their lives. Looking down a typical Beijing street, I probably saw several times the population of Gig Harbor. Seeing all these different people helped me to understand why China is such an emerging power and so important. It has more than four times the population of the United States, most of which is centered in large cities, and its GDP is one of the fastest-rising in the world. With so many people, China’s rise is hardly even worth forecasting—it’s just one of those things that is bound to happen.

But beyond the numbers and facts, there is a far more valuable aspect of this exchange, and that is the connections and relationships that it builds. I made new friends in China, interacted with another culture, and realized that ours is not the only culture in the world. Further, I realized something far more important: that beyond cultural differences, we are all people. In conversation with my host family, I saw many similarities between them and people I know in the States and elsewhere. We all have the same basic desires and goals, and we really aren’t all that much different below the surface.

In our country, commentators enjoy casting the Chinese as the bad guys—evil, greedy people scheming to steal American jobs, jeopardize world peace, and destroy liberty. The beauty of the exchange program is that it gets us beyond that—I saw that most people in China are like most people here. They want a comfortable life and a secure future, and like Americans, they are willing to work for it. This exchange helped me to see China as a country of humans, filled with potential friends rather than certain enemies. I find it easy to condemn people I don’t know, but after actually getting acquainted with these new friends, I found it impossible to do so. This trip made me aware of what truly is a global, transnational community of people, and if there comes a time of crisis with China—as there almost certainly will—I know that I will not be one of the people who blindly shout for war, internment, and the punishment of innocent souls. Traveling to China has shown me that we can focus on what we have in common rather than solely on our differences, and in this way we can build healthy international relationships that will be of use to us for years to come.

But I am not the only one who has benefited from this exchange of cultures. My exchange partner, George, has come to a similar understanding, as have many others involved in the program. As China continues to grow in superpower status, it is important that we craft as many relationships as possible and strengthen existing ones. Programs like the one between Gig Harbor and Tsinghua are important because they build such relationships, because they foster ties of understanding between two countries that seem to be gearing up for a clash. As I see it, we have the responsibility to continue programs like these for the enormous good that they produce. Yes, they are costly, but they are also enormously beneficial to those who participate in them and those who are not even indirectly involved. Without such programs, we are all too likely to see China as just one more threat to America rather than the diverse, complex, human, and ultimately good-natured society it really is.

“After learning and going to school with the kids, I will never ever again complain of schoolwork.”

Nathaniel Youngchild – Peninsula High School, 2007

What I experienced in China is almost too immense to explain with words. The time I spent in China was filled with a plethora of life changing and eye opening experiences. What I got out of the trip was not what I planned on acquiring going into it.

Experiencing the country itself gave me a much greater appreciation for what I have in the United States. I'm so lucky to be able to drive and always have the power to change. After learning and going to school with the kids, I will never ever again complain of schoolwork. I also gained a lot of appreciation for being able to see my parents every night. I don't know how the kids make it through without the constant support of parents by your side at all times. The kids there are so amazingly courageous in their everyday life. You'd think going to school all day and night and sleeping there would kill a person’s inner strength and drive. But that's not the case with the Chinese students at Jinan No. 1 High School. These students were the most goal oriented, heart-driven people I have ever met.

Not only will I never forget any of the friends I made in China but the ones I became close with will always have a special place in my heart. Li Tianxiao or “Stan the Man” and I will be friends forever. I made a bigger connection with Stan than I have with any of my friends in America. Stan taught me life lessons that I will carry for the rest of my life and try to instill into my friends and family in America. Not many of the other exchange students know this but Stan made it very clear to me that life was given to us to enjoy and no matter what happens I should always enjoy life with no care but to be happy. For happiness, he would tell me, is the key to a great life and one can be happy no matter the circumstances. No matter what people say, we choose our destinies with our hard work and being happy and never letting anything get in the way of that makes it a little easier to work hard through anything in life.

What Stan taught me and what the country itself made me realize cannot be learned in any textbook or taught by any teacher but only learned through the great experience I was so blessed to be a part of.

“They are not just millions of Chinese people anymore; they are human beings just like in America.”

Blair Burmark – Peninsula High School, 2007

What an experience! The culture, the atmosphere, the history, the food, and mostly the people are what really made this trip extraordinary for me. It is something that I will probably never be able to do again and I will remember for the rest of my life. Before I went to China I thought I was well traveled. I had been to Europe a few times and felt like I knew what was going on, but China put everything into a new perspective. Europe is like my Grandma or Grandpa, they are very different from me but when you get right down to it, essentially we are the same. China however, was stranger than anything I had ever come in contact with before in my life, and judging by their reactions to us, they had the same feelings toward us. Everybody there worked so hard to make us feel comfortable in their home and make us understand as much about their country and life that we possibly could in two weeks.

The people I met in China were what really made the trip worthwhile. I knew that there were tons of people, history and culture, but to actually meet and live with a person in the same situation as me but in China taught me about their country more than anything else could have. They are not just millions of Chinese people anymore; they are human beings just like in America, which is comforting. Of course they go to school for 15 hours a day, play competitive ping pong rather than baseball, and eat chicken feet but they are still just regular teenagers who all have different personalities, hobbies and goals. They don’t always do their homework or listen in class or agree with everything they are told and by making lots of friends, I was able to see this and relate to all of them.

I was expecting to learn from all the outstanding differences I was going encounter in China, but now that I have experienced it, what struck me the most was our similarities. I plan on returning to China when I get older and I know that there are people there that will accept me with open arms because of the connections that we as a group and that I individually made while we were in China. I can’t wait until our partners come to America and we can open their eyes to something completely new and treat them like this is their home. I only hope they enjoy it as much as I enjoyed my experiences there and everybody here can see what exceptional people they are.