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.”
Local News
LEW-PORT: Exchange program brings students to China
- Local News
-
-
Wallenda makes final practice walk, is ready for a break
Nik Wallenda says he's tired but prepared.
Following his final practice session at Seneca Niagara Casino on Tuesday, Wallenda said the preparations leading up to his June 15 high-wire walk across Niagara Falls have left him feeling both physically and mentally drained and ready for a little relaxation. -
Man survives plunge over Horseshoe Falls
Crowds visiting Niagara Falls on the Victoria Day holiday watched the rescue of a man who plunged at least 180 feet over the falls and survived.
-
Man went over U.S. side Tuesday as Monday survivor continues to recover
New York State Park police are investigating a report of a person going over Niagara Falls, the second such incident in as many days.
-
Falls cops target crack dealers
As Eric Nelson sat on the front porch of 533 18th St. on Thursday night with a pocket full of crack cocaine, he was probably waiting for his best customers to roll on up.
-
Falls man finds out there are no free meals
A Falls man was arrested after a waitress at a downtown restaurant told police she tracked him down after he skipped out on his bill.
-
Overheated extension cord believed to be cause of blaze
Fire investigators believe an overheated extension cord sparked a blaze that drove six people out of a 23rd Street home late Monday.
-
N-W board to weigh tax 5, 7 percent hikes
In the wake of its defeated spending request, Niagara-Wheatfield School District officials are scrambling to get a new proposal put together for a second vote.
-
Two face charges for dumping body in NT
Police are giving few details about the arrest of Febres and Fuller, though North Tonawanda Police Capt. William Hall said that David C. Brandl, who was discovered deceased in the morning hours of April 27 at Mayors Park by National Grid employees, was at Febres' Zimmerman Street apartment when he died.
-
Town zoning code amended in Wheatfield
The planning board's proposed revisions to the town's zoning code were approved by the town board on Monday following a quiet public hearing on the matter.
-
Second Jumper Reported at Falls
- More Local News Headlines
-
Joplin Remembers Deadly Tornado, 1 Year Later
Serial Stabbings Suspect Guilty of Murder
Facebook Shares Continue Negative Slide
8 Hurt in Oklahoma Shooting After NBA Playoff
US Airways: Diverted Flight Has 'Landed Safely'
A Few Odd Business Sparks but Europe Gloomy
Revived Focus on Regulation After JPMorgan Loss
Gerard Butler: the Good, the Bad and the Cannes
At Least 25 Dead in India Train Collision
Raw Video: Private Rocket Blasts Off
Boy to Rescuers: 'Do You Have a Plan?'
Doctors and Devotees Debate Barefoot Running
Blacks Seek to Find Their Own Missing
Houston Museum Unveils $85 Million Dinosaur Hall
Chicago Police: 90 Arrested in NATO Protests
Ex-Rutgers Student Gets 30 Days in Webcam Case
Obama Sees Inspiration in Joplin Graduates
Raw Video: Man Saved After Niagara Falls Plunge
NATO: Afghan Exit 'Irreversible'
Catholic Groups Sue Over Contraception Mandate
