Bridges for Cultural Exchanges

My Dream Visit to Red Wing City

By Liu Xiaoping， a teacher of English at Number 2 Middle School of Quzhou

For a teacher of English in China， a visit to UK or USA where English is spoken opens the door to the western culture and exotic lifestyles. Such a visit is a dream: one can have a perfect opportunity to speak the language and act as a friendship envoy to promote Chinese culture and build a bridge of friendship. The teacher-exchange program between Quzhou and her American sister city Red Wing， Minnesota of USA made my dream come true. On 23 January 1997， I went to Red Wing. My mission was noble and glorious: a mission of culture exchanges between China and the beyond.

No other part in my life is more unforgettable， accomplished and significant than my six-month stay in Red Wing， a small town with a population of 15，000.

Before I left home， I had made all the necessary arrangements for my lectures and activities to be held in Red Wing. I created a series of slide shows which showcased scenes of rural and urban areas in China and my school so that Americans would see what China looked like. In my lecture on silk， I showed students silk cocoons and silk scarves so that they could touch and feel. I talked about the long history of silk in China and the main agricultural produce in Quzhou. In my lectures on Chinese culture， I stressed the importance of hands-on experiences. In addition to verbal introductions， I showed students how to write Chinese characters with the Chinese writing brush-pen and paint Chinese color paintings， make paper boats， birds， umbrellas and windmills， dance fan jigs and practice qigong.

In my lectures for kindergarten children， I related ancient Chinese myths and zodiacs. In my talks at local communities， organizations， and education institutions， I outlined the culture， economy， transportation， education， food， family life， and tremendous changes that China was undergoing in the reform and opening up to the outside world.

I became a guest everyone wanted to invite to their houses. I helped my hosts to do housework， which made me all the more popular. A good cook， I showed American housewives how to make Chinese dishes. The delicious food I made was regarded as amazing.

Red Wing people are warm-hearted and friendly. To enrich my life there， they bought tickets and brought me to concerts， ball games， entertainment shows. Under their guidance， I tried my hands at driving car， steering an airplane and a yacht. They carried me on their motorbikes on tours to suburbs. I rode horses on farms. I toured tourist attractions outside Red Wing.

Six months in Red Wing gave me beautiful and valuable memories. The zero-distance contact and exchanges opened my eyes to the American culture. The experience has helped me a great deal in my teaching English back home in Quzhou.

Coming Home to a Chinese Classroom

by Alyssa Carlson (America)

In general， I don’t cry very often， but in early August 2006， I did a lot of crying. All these tears were for one simple reason: I really， really didn’t want to leave China. But， I already had my plane ticket， and my work visa was about to expire， so I had no choice but to go back to America.

For a while， it was great to be home. I was excited to reunite with my family， my friends， and most importantly， my dog. I also enjoyed catching up on all the films， TV shows， and music I’d missed， and eating all my favorite foods again. I got a job at a coffeehouse in Red Wing until I decided what to do next.

Soon after I arrived home， I began talking with members of Red Wing’s Sister Cities Commission. I told them how I loved my stay in China， and how I hoped to come back one day. They said， “Maybe you can go again next year.” And now here I am， to spend one whole year teaching oral English at Quzhou No. 2 Middle School.

My previous teaching experience gave me a wealth of knowledge that I am now putting to use， and I feel that this year I am running my class much differently than I did last year. I came to Quzhou in 2006 feeling terrified about whether or not I would be successful as a teacher. In fact， I found that teaching came fairly easily to me， but there was still plenty of room for improvement. While last year my only real goal was not to do badly in class， I now feel secure enough in my teaching abilities that I even have a teaching philosophy. My philosophy is one simple word: interact.

Putting my philosophy to use， however， is another matter entirely. While it seems that， for the most part， Chinese education is quite passive—the teacher speaks; the students listen—this is simply not an option for me as an oral English teacher. When I thought back on my classes last year， I realized that I spoke too much. Now I try to emphasize the “oral” part of oral English， and make the students speak for much more of the class period. I try to counteract students’ shyness with the constant refrain “Don’t be shy!” and reminded them that it’s okay to make a mistake， and that even in America nobody speaks perfectly all the time.

Occasionally I will look at a student’s English textbook and think that the topics they learn are， frankly， not very useful. I like to talk about words， phrases， and concepts that are truly common in America. I like to play games in class when I can (although it’s quite difficult with the large class sizes in China)， as well as doing art projects， acting， and simply having discussions.

I realize that， of course， not every student in interested in English. Many only care that they’ll do well on the college entrance exam. As long as these students aren’t disruptive in class， I have no problem with that. In some ways， in fact， I try to teach these students the most. If I can keep these students interested in my lesson， I feel I’m doing a good job. However， it’s the really excited students， the ones who really love English， who make my job worthwhile. They are the most active in class， and will sometimes go out of their way to speak English with me.

Last year I wasn’t sure if enthusiasm was a quality I would possess， because I was so nervous. To my surprise， I found that I did care about improving my students’ English. And for the most part， my enthusiasm was reciprocated by the students， who really did seem to want to learn， and were polite and friendly to me. In fact， nearly all the citizens of Quzhou acted this way toward me. It was just this attitude that made me love Quzhou so much， and that I missed when I left， and that made me so excited to come back. And who knows? Maybe it will be the reason I’ll come back again someday.

(This essay is abridged for the sake of space.)

My Twenty-One-Day Visit to UK

By Weng Yangqin， a student of Number 2 Middle School of Quzhou

July 5th 2010 is a memorable day in my life. On that day， we seventeen students and three teachers spent 11 hours flying to London from China. The distance from the east of Asia to the west of Europe appeared endless. I began to find the odyssey in the air almost unendurable when I was greatly relieved to hear the captain’s announcement that we were soon to touch down in London. Twenty minutes later we stepped upon the land of Britain.

The bus driver from GOLSCAT， the English school where we would spend 21 days in its summer program， greeted us as soon as we walked out of the exit at the airport terminal.

After a three-hour bus ride， we arrived at GOLSCAT. We had a brief tour around the campus. The school looked ultramodern. Our host mothers soon came to claim us. Helen and I went with our host mother Glenis， a gracious granny. Her husband had passed away ten years before and her three adult children lived away from home. We felt at home thanks to the warm-heated treatment at Glenis’ house.

The food in UK is indeed totally different from Chinese food. Back home we have pongee， steamed bread and pickled vegetables for breakfast， but they were replaced by milk， toast and jam.

The lunch Glenis prepared for us to bring to school every day was not much better. I had extreme difficulty dealing with the awful lunch. A sandwich had mincemeat and occasionally a few tomato slices， which made the sandwich more difficult to eat. The only agreeable part of lunch was potato chips and a small apple. In sharp contrast to meager lunch， dinner at Glenis’s house was great. I enjoyed macaroni and spaghetti， pizza， curry bread and curry rice， meshed potato， and many other delightful English dishes whose names I failed to commit to memory.

The school where we attended classes was a separate campus of a college. It was so small that it was probably only one fourth of our campus back home. The school ran an excellent international program and we met with a lot of international students there.

We had two 1.5-hour classes every weekday morning. Though a class was longer than usual， I enjoyed them a great deal， for teachers knew how to make lively what we were studying. Everyone was eager to participate in activities and discussion. In the afternoons we had a lot of hands-on events. We practiced Taekwando and yoga， learned to dance， played basketball and football， made handicrafts， visited small towns around the school.

Weekends saw us visit some famous tourism attractions in England. We visited Stonehenge. We visited London， but the pictures I took are poor. I can hardly find myself as I was engulfed by huge crowds of international tourists. We failed to visit Oxford as heavy rains nonstop for days made the trip impossible.

How time had elapsed before I realized our three-week summer school was over! The visit has given me a lot of unforgettable memories in elegant colors. □