In 2013/2014 four Carr Hill High School & Sixth Form Centre students took part in the school’s first exchange programme. To start with our students played host to four pupils from China. The Chinese pupils attended the school, stayed with the Carr Hill students’ families and visited tourist destinations across the UK.
Having hosted the first part of the exchange our students Elise, Megan, Michael and Kate made the return trip to China. Here they share their experiences following their trip of a lifetime.
Elise on trying new food
Trying new foods such as chicken feet and heads, smelly tofu and Zhengzhou noodles was great and one of my favourite parts of the trip. Some foods were really nice, like the dumplings, and some were really gross, like the chicken feet and the tofu!
Megan on visiting a Chinese Primary School
During the second week of the trip we took the high-speed train to Zhengzhouto visit a primary school. That was very cool. The school shocked me because of how ‘run -down’ it looked. The mattresses the children slept on were wafer thin. The toilets were basically holes in the floor, all next each other with no doors and no privacy. They didn’t even have a roof!
However the view from the school was incredible! The mountains were indescribably beautiful. The students were amazing. They all wanted to talk to us and practice their English.
Michael on the accommodation
Zhengzhou in Henan Province is where the host families live, and the flats are so strange. There are dirty streets, you go into the buildings and it is still dirty and then you walk into the apartment and there is a clean marble floor, big TV and air conditioning! It was like going into a different world!
Kate on Transport
When you first arrive in China you realise that all public transport get full really quickly. This can result in you having to stand with your face in the armpit of a stranger! I would always recommend getting a window seat, if you can. The traffic is often very heavy and sometimes you have to wait a long time. Lots of Chinese people use this time as an opportunity to catch up on their sleep!
Megan on the trip to Suzhou
While staying in shanghai, Alexander (a teacher from the partner school, Zhengzhou in Henan Province) thought it would be a great idea to visit Suzhou. We took another high-speed train to Suzhou, which took less than half an hour. We visited a garden and the city wall. These were both beautiful and interesting. In the evening we saw a Chinese opera, which was great but not at all what we expected.
Elise on her favourite places
Climbing The Great Wall of China was an amazing feeling especially as we managed to walk a good distance even though it was steep. Getting to see giant pandas for real was brilliant as they were so cute. They were just sat eating bamboo, I would have loved to have stroked them and know what their fur felt like. It was also great to visit the Olympic Park after watching the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Kate on meeting Chinese children
On our trip to the primary school I got the chance to teach children a little bit of English vocabulary which gave me a real sense of achievement. It also gave me a lot of confidence about training to become a teacher which is what I want to do in a few years.
Michael on meal times
China is the most ‘different’ country I’ve been to. The people and culture are so different to what I expected. At meal time the food is brought to the table individually, when each part is ready, then we used our chopsticks to get as much of which ever type of food we might like. Breakfast is the only meal that was really strange because it was exactly the same as dinner and tea!
Kate on table manners
We had to adapt our table manners as the Chinese people think that it is polite to slurp your noodles as it is a sign of appreciation and shows you are enjoying the meal. It was hard to get used to at first as this would be considered rude in England.
Elise on continuing to learn Mandarin
I have decided to continue to learn Mandarin at University after learning some basic Chinese in China. It was great to have the chance to start learning the language there as it really helped me with pronunciation and basic understanding of Chinese characters and how they work in the language.
Michael on one of his most memorable moments
One of the most memorable parts of the trip was visiting Tiananmen Square, this was not memorable for a good reason unlike the rest of the trip. Chinese people have no access to the history of Tiananmen Square or rather no access to The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. They treat Tiananmen Square like the French treat the Eiffel Tower. They have no idea what happened and wouldn’t be able to search on the internet for it. If they tried the internet would crash for around a day!
Megan on her last night in Shanghai
The last night in shanghai was hard as we all felt like a family and didn’t want to say goodbye. Since going back to the UK we have all stayed in touch and we hope it will stay that way for a long time. This trip has been one of the best experiences of my life. It has definitely been an adventure and I hope to return to China one day. I also hope this opportunity is available to other Carr Hill students in the future.
Kate on visiting China
The best bit of advice I can give if you are planning to visit China is to be open minded. It is essential in everything you do from getting around, to eating food, to dancing in the street (we joined in on this several times). Everything you see and do is all part of the cultural experience and the more you embrace it the more you enjoy it!
For all the photos from the trip see the news article entitled Carr Hill High School China Exchange.
Other Images
China
.jpg)
