"hai wai xue nian" = School Year Abroad China
It is in the traditional da zhuan style of calligraphy which is more square in style than other styles of calligraphy.
School Year Abroad China uses this logo on our t-shirts and sweatshirts and other materials associated with our school.
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| STUDENT QUOTES |
"China's awesome! Don't pass on an opportunity like this!" Anne Fong
"You're not American! You must be Chinese! You are not afraid to eat anything!" Said Kathleen Collins' host Mom.
"Jia You! China is fun!" Jason Lau
"Have you eaten? Are you hungry? Is it delicious? Are you full?"
Asks Kai Jensen's host Mom.
"Not all westerners speak English!" Ricky Ganados
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Dear Parents,
It has been a little over a week that I had the pleasure of meeting many of you in San Francisco, and though only a short time ago, so much has happened and changed for your children. I hope this newsletter can help bring to life the many exciting moments your children have had over the past 10 days, from lengthy flights, meeting new people, making new friends, making dumplings, climbing mountains, becoming jump rope experts, picking up games of soccer, running track, getting fitted for uniforms, eating chicken's heads, getting their textbooks, meeting their new Mom's and Dad's, sisters and brothers and extended families, getting lost and finding their way home, ordering food in restaurants, you name, you children have experienced it in oh such short span off time.
As I write this we have just finished our first FAN (my Chinese last name and synonymous with food) Friday - where I bring in a little taste of "home" to add something special to the end of the week.
The group is outstanding and caring for each other. They are wonderful representatives of your family, their school, their country and SYA. |
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LEAVING SAN FRANCISCO
Our Journey Begins
Could it be Alaska?
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Our time together in San Francisco was short and some students left even earlier to meet our 12:00 flight to Beijing. We took up most of the waiting room in the basement area of the San Francisco International airport and everyone was trying to use facebook madly for the last time in goodness how long. Already the group was starting to gel and get to know each other. Every indication was that this group would be exceptional.
When you are traveling with 45 students on a 13 hour flight, you cannot expect to get much rest. One of our students had to stay behind in San Francisco has she was very sick and had to be hospitalized. She would catch up with after Orientation. Another 2 students were already in Asia and would arrive in Beijing just prior to our arrival. As well behaved as our group was, they did spend the majority of the 13 hours getting to know each other and talking up a storm. The flight attendants were all interested in what they were doing and were very friendly (well yes it was the friendly skies after all). The Headmaster of another international school here in Beijing also came up to find out who the group was and what SYA stood for. We did have one lucky traveler in Business Class, who was able to get a good night's sleep in an enviable prone position. Some of our students interviewed her on the new flip video camera.
It was thankfully a peaceful and calm flight and before we knew it we were flying over the Great Wall of China. A clear indication that we were about to begin our journey in China. |
ORIENTATION AT WULING XIFENG
Getting to Know You
 Straight off the plane and out of customs the group piled into two large buses after getting the luggage safely put into two transportation trucks. We were heading northeast of Beijing to Miyun District and the mountainous area of Wuling Xifeng. Along the way you could see the tall towers of the Great Wall dotting the tops of the mountain range. The evening light was perfect and the sky was clear.
After a two hour bus ride we arrive at the hotel - a local guest house - large enough to house our group and one other. A quick meeting to let the students know that math placement testing would begin first thing in the morning and then off to bed.
On the first full day of Orientation, students all took a one hour math test. This would give Mr. Pettus, our long standing math teacher, enough time to process the math placement in time for the rest of the schedule to be put into place.
Students spent the rest of the morning in advisory groups talking about their personal goals and what it will be like to live in a host family. In the afternoon students were divided into three groups for team-building activities which included being blindfolded and taking a rope and turning it into a square, fitting everyone on the team through openings in the a rope, and getting the girls from one end of a line to the other. This was all followed by the favorite activity - team jump-roping! Last year's SYA China team came in 2nd in the jump-roping, so there is just a small amount of pressure on our group to best last year's results.
That evening a group from a local magazine came for the night. They had arranged a bonfire and karaoke evening and asked our students to join in. One of the most touching moments was when they began singing the song " Beijing Welcomes You 北 京欢迎你"。Jason and Ricky joined in with strong voices and everyone swayed in unison with arms in the air. Our group gave an impressive rendition of Michael Jackson's Billy Jean. Dancing took place with Kai jumping right in and dancing with several of the magazine employees.
The last day in Wuling Xifeng, started with a hike, not just an ordinary hike but a mighty strenuous one near to the top of the peak in the photo above. 3 hours later everyone has returned, exhausted, but proud of their accomplishment. Following a delicious lunch - the food is made fresh from the vegetables grown in the village - we head into the local villages to meet the farmers and interview them about their lives. Breaking off into nine groups, students learn what it is like to live on the outskirts of Beijing and to grow up as a farmer.
Orientation culminated in a very funny series of skits by the Chinese faculty depicting several scenarios of what it might be like living in a Chinese family. Auguste, Max and Maddie were asked in turn to take part in the skits as the SYA student. Li Xuedong Laoshi acted the part of the son with such aplomb that most of us were in tears of laughter. Ma Laoshi also played a pretty impressive role as the Mama.
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ARRIVAL AT OUR SCHOOL CAMPUS
Group at the campus gate under the welcome SYA sign
 Hurray, here is our school. WOW! Was the collective comment upon arrival. A track, basketball courts and soccer pitch were right there on the right. Our school is located on the 6th floor of the teaching building and the students soon realized that they would get a lot of exercise each day walking up and down the stairs.
After a quick chance to look around the classrooms and library, our advisees set out to find a restaurant to take us to have lunch and order the food --this without any help from the advisors. Each group found a different restaurant -dumplings, Sichuan spicy food, Northeastern style food, Baozi to name a few.
After lunch the students set off on a two hour scavenger hunt around the area where our school is located. They had to go to banks and change money, purchase goods, buy stamps, take public transportation etc. By the end of the event, most were pretty familiar with their immediate surroundings. |
MEETING OUR FAMILIES
Are you my Mother?
Stern and host mother
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It is what your children came for, not searching for parent substitutes, but to truly engage in China in a way that is only possibly by truly living the life of a Chinese local. They came to join families and the long wait was over. On Saturday afternoon, all the students gathered in the meeting room of our school and chanted, "We're Ready!". They then processioned down to the main auditorium where their families awaited them. As our students entered, the room filled applause and everyone was looking at each other wondering "Are you my mother?"; "Are you my son?" Some were easily recognized and others took some matching before finally each child was properly placed with their host family.
We then met at the from gate to orchestrate a group photo with over 130 people. What a relief the children felt in finally meeting their hosts and know that they were finally heading home to their lives in a Chinese family. A few backwards looks showed that some were a little anxious, but most left arm in arm already calling each other "mama' and "Baba" ad "haizi (child)". Faculty commented on how an number of children even looked like their host families! As the days turn into weeks and months, we know these relationships oh so very new will become lifelong and forever cherished. |
CLASSES BEGIN
So Many Tests
Li Xuedong explains Cocurricular Activities
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After a few days in the beautiful countryside and a day with host families, students gathered at 8:00am to begin their week of placement tests for Chinese classes. Math placement tests took place during Orientation as they needed to be completed before the class schedule could be created. Four levels of Math are offered plus an extra class in BC Calculus. Mr. Pettus is there bright and early to meet with any students who want to ask him questions.
English classes, taught by Ms. Phelan, have begun with a narrative essay defining "culture shock" relating to the student's experience interviewing rural villagers during our Orientation. Students are now reading contemporary short stories such as "Willows Waist" by Chi Li, "the Day I got to Xi'an" by Duo Duo, "The Summons" by Cao Xue and "Remembering Mr. Wu You" by Gu Fei.
In History class they have jumped right into an analysis of Confucianism. reading excerpts from the Analects. Ms. Becker has had them also compare the Analects with writings by the legalists of the period as a lead into the Qin Dynasty. This weekend they have been given an assignment to visit the Lama Temple called Yong He Gong 雍和宫，and the Confucius Temple 孔庙。
In Chinese Culture and Society Class, students were asked to give group presentations in a multimedia format on their visits to the farmer's homes in Wuling Xifeng. The creativity and depth of knowledge from just one visit to the family, showed that even if newly arrived in China and less than confident in their Chinese, your children were able to gain a tremendous amount of information. "Do you like Obama?" One group asked. "Well he is OK, but I didn't like Bush. There was too much emphasis on war and I like peace." Others found out that the grandmothers picked mushrooms in the mountains to earn extra cash; senior citizens get a subsidy from the government;many had grown up in the village itself and didn't travel very often; many generations live under one roof; and there is great discrepancy of wealth within the village and that this was partly due to whether or not they produced sons. As one grandpa aptly said at the end of a group's visit - 雾灵西风水好，山好，地方好！"In Wuling Xifeng, the water is good, the mountains are lovely and the place is wonderful.
Cocurricular activities do not begin until the 3rd week of school so that everyone can settle in to the normal class schedule and get a better idea of how much extra time they will have in their schedules. In the next issue there will be a segment on what some of these activities will involve.
Students will begin next week wearing the newly arrived Beijing Normal University #2 High School uniform. |
COLLEGE COUNSELING
Where do I go next? Macalester College Visit
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Anne Wilbur, our College Counselor has started off the year getting those students who wish to take the SAT on October 9th
Registration is complete.
Mr. Peter Colee of Macalester College came and spoke to the students about his school and the admissions process in general. His talk was very well received.
Students also have the opportunity to learn about Princeton, Northwestern, Georgetown and Columbia this coming Thursday night.
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MEET A FACULTY MEMBER
INTRODUCING ZHANG TONG 张彤老师的介绍
 Did you know that Ms. Zhang Tong (张老师）has been teaching at SYA for 7 years? Did you know she actually majored in Philosophy and Logistics at Peking University and taught at Yale University? Well it is all true. While working on her MA degree at Peking University, she noticed an advertisement for a teaching position with IUP (Inter-University Program started by the Stanford Center). She applied and joined their faculty after graduation. During her time teaching foreign students Chinese, she also had the opportunity to teach at Yale University for one year and Beloit College for one summer. Since coming to SYA in 2003, Zhang Tong has found that she is actually getting younger. "Being around this age group just keeps me thinking young." Commented Zhang Laoshi. "I feel more useful, as I have the opportunity to teach not only the language but culture and ethics and how to be a responsible adult." Zhang is the Chinese Language Coordinator and responsible for making sure all the scheduling goes smoothly. She feels the SYA experience in Chinese language is like a "Language Rocket!" a 中文火箭！ |
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LEARN CHINESE A Phrase a Week
wo2 xiang2 ni3: 我想你：I miss you
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| Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. We hope you found it informational and enjoyable. The next issue will be coming soon!
Sincerely,
Frances Fremont-SmithResident Director
SYA CHINA
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