Dear Parents, Well here we are in issue #2 our our SYA China Family Newsletter. OK, not quite as punctual as the first, but still, I hope, worth waiting for. We have finished our first full week of classes and everyone is still smiling, laughing and happy to be here! That must mean something is going right. First, we have an amazing group! Your children are the best. I am not the only one touting there charms. Their host families each came in to the office and one after the other commented on how wonderful each of your children are: polite, adorable, hard working and independent. The teachers say the same as well. The #2 High School administrators are thrilled that so many of our SYA students are interacting with their students, whether on the soccer pitch or around campus. This partnership between our two schools is strengthening and we look forward to next week's inauguration of the Bilingual Corner where over 100 students will gather together to share ideas and interests and conversation. Overall it has been a wonderful week. See the articles below to find out in more detail what everyone was up to. Sincerely,
Frances Fremont-Smith 范老师 |
Chinese class with Ding Laoshi
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THE FIRST WEEK OF CLASS I Can Do This or Can I??
Classes began this week in earnest. Students were placed in 6 different levels of Chinese class and were thankful to finally begin learning vocabulary which would help them get through the evening communication with their host families. Day after day, students drilled vocabulary and characters, practicing them until the wee hours of the night at times to be ready for the daily dictation. It is only week one and I already heard a student holler (and not sarcastically) " I love dictations!". What is good is that you know what to study and what to expect and if you prepare well, you will do beautifully.
In English, we started reading Xiao Hong's Fields of Life and Death, a story examining the lives of ordinary people confronting extraordinary hardships in a small village outside of Harbin--the narrator reveals the lives of her characters both before and after the Japanese invasion. We've also started working more deliberately on our analytical writing. We had some good discussions this week about the importance of using precise language and proper grammar in order to accurately convey complex thoughts and ideas.
In History, discussion centered around - Are Human Rights political, moral or legal entities? What are the basic assumptions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are they western? Is Chinese culture so different that it cannot embrace Human Rights? Is there an intrinsic or inherent tension between Confucianism and Human Rights? These are some of the questions that we rose this week in history class. We attempted to analyze and discuss these questions by situating the Human Rights questions in the context of the so-called 'Asian Values' or 'Confucian Values' debate, thereby establishing a connection between Confucianism (as discussed last week in class) and its significance for contemporary times.
In Math, some students shifted their level either up or down this week after the first test results were tallied. In general most are settled and taking the opportunity to review and ask questions with Mr. Pettus in the early morning prior to school. Mr. Pettus has said this is a very talented group in math.
In Chinese, Culture and Society we finished listening to the impressive presentations on the rural family interviews and then held a discussion on the issues of rural livelihood and the discrimination against peasant families. The quality of discussion was impressive including combining what was learned in history when one student asked the question, "if young people leave the villages (to find jobs in cities) then what happens to the traditional belief and sustainability of filial piety?" Good question! Another mentioned, China is facing a "generation gap". |
Bob and his host family
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LIVING WITH MY FAMILY
Insights Into Local Life
The key to the heart of SYA is the homestay experience. For your child to have the opportunity to see life through the eyes of local families and to become truly part of the family unit allows them to understand China at a level most "outsiders" will never understand. Your children have now spent 2 weeks with their families and are really beginning to settle in. Yes some are having problems with food, but they do not complain, and others may end up showering in the cold, but they do not complain either. Some families live near the school and others far. Some have large apartments with many accoutrements and others in fairly sparse situations. This is the mix, the wonderful ingredients that make this SYA experience so very special. The students come to school talking about their mama and baba, and I am sorry to say they are not referring to you- and yes for us sometimes it can be confusing, but oh so wonderful to hear and see the light shine in their eyes when they refer to their families. We continue to encourage each student to step out of their comfort zone, to try foods that are unfamiliar or they would rather not eat. Like the situation where Georgia was faced with a rabbit for dinner the other night. She gulped and politely ate the rabbit all the while remembering her cherished pet rabbit, Pepper, of 6 years which her grandfather (now passed away) had given to her. She wanted to cry - -and yes she did cry the next day while recounting the experience during an advisee meeting- but they were tears, with laughter and pride that she had been able to adapt at that moment and let us all know just how much she cherished the pet her grandfather had given her. Georgia's story is not the only one that shows just how caring and thoughtful your children are and how mature they are about handling awkward or difficult situations. View of Beijing from Anne's house
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Several quotes from the Chinese host families are translated below:
"Derek is very polite and understands others needs. In the past 2 weeks he often helps Mama buy vegetables and do the household chores. We love him dearly!" Sun Rong
" Abigail is so polite and loves to study and is not at all fussy about food. She gets on well with everyone and is self disciplined." Lan Qiuyu
" Spencer, is a wonderful boy and the whole family loves him. He comes home on time and studies hard. Sometimes he doesn't get enough sleep!" Feng Li
"Auguste is very mature and polite. He listens to Baba and NaiNai's advise. He keeps everything in order and studies very hard. He is gaining so much knowledge from this special experience." Sun WenHao
"Lauren takes initiative to communicate with us in Chinese. She's outgoing and gregarious. She completes her work on time and independently. She loves all types of Chinese food." Kou Jianyun
"Anne is very polite and studies very hard. She is very warm and caring towards others. She is very independent and is such a lovely girl!" Yang Mingran
"Ricky has great relationship with all of us. He is able to get all over town on his own. We talk a lot about his life in America at home and school. He works very hard to complete his daily homework assignments." Liu Quanwu
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FROM BUDDHA TO CONFUCIUS Visiting Temples Gabi with Confucius at 孔庙
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Part of this weeks History class was to discuss what students learned after their weekend visits to the Lama and Confucius temples.
Students went with their families to learn about Tibetan Buddhism at Yong He Gong (the Lama Temple) and to compare what they saw there to the Confucius Temple just down the road.
It was a perfect weekend for outings and some families joined together in larger groups and other students went on their own and bumped into classmates.
Learn more about what they saw by visiting: www.kinabaloo.com/yonghegong.html
http://www.beijingguide2008.com/confucius_temple_beijing/confucius_temple_beijing.html |
PREPARING FOR THE SPORTS MEET Jump Roping Fever The highlight so far has been the after lunch, 1:00-1:30 daily practice of this year's jump roping team as seen in the picture above. Our students are trying to quicken their speed with each practice. The competition will be held at the annual sports meet on September 30th.In addition to this event, other students have signed up for track and field events and practice and qualifying matches will begin next week. We have a very athletic group this year and they have put together a coed team of 12 soccer players which will begin practicing twice a week and take on some of the local teams and international school teams this fall. We are looking forward to the arrival of more lacrosse sticks so that our lacrosse players and do an exhibition and begin teaching their #2 high school classmates all about this Native American sport. Cocurricular activities in Tai Ji, Martial Arts, Calligraphy, Painting, and Music begin next week. |
 NEWS
Helmets Rule Though this has been a very happy week overall, we did have an accident with one of our students and a bus. He was coming to school and caught caught between a lady on a motorbike and a bus coming from behind and ended up getting knocked off his bike by the bus. A few minor abrasions and confirmation that there was nothing more serious after several x-rays were taken led to great relief. Times are changing in China, rapidly as we all know. And in light of the monthly influx of new cars and new drivers to the road, we at SYA feel it is no longer viable for our students to be riding bikes in Beijing without a helmet. All of you have signed wavers to allow your child to ride a bike, but I hope you will support our new policy which will go into effect next Friday. We are ordering helmets, high quality French design which is light weight but has all the safety standards. Students found riding without a helmet will lose their bike riding privilege. A letter will go out to everyone next week with the new bike riding policy. Thank you for your understanding.
Safety Lecture
On Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Yan, Head of Safety at the #2 High School, came to talk to our students about the rules of the road for pedestrians and bikers. Students were reminded that speed is the largest cause of sever injury and that it is of extreme importance to maintain vigilance about your surroundings - who is beside you, behind you and in front of you. He agreed that helmets were important but that they were not yet a requirement of bikers in China. He was happy to learn that our SYA students would be wearing helmets because he believed that our students are less accustomed to the rules of the road in Beijing. Sadly he admits, that in spite of rules many people try to cut corners to save time and that is when the most accidents take place. He wishes all of our students and safe and enjoyable year in Beijing.
Mr. Yan gives lesson on safety
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Derek fills in his form for Georgetown
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COLLEGE COUNSELING
Thursday evening 36 students took advantage of an opportunity to meet Admissions officers from Princeton, Northwestern, Columbia and Georgetown at a college fair held at Western Academy of Beijing (WAB). Students were able to fill in forms to get on their mailing lists, learn about each of the schools and ask individual questions. As the Admissions officer for Princeton stated, " We travel together, not just because we like each other, but because we all represent similar schools. We are research universities and in our admissions process we are looking for students that will make up a great freshman class, be diverse and have more to offer us than just high SAT scores." Everyone of our SYA students will have that something extra, when it comes time to filling in the college applications later this semester and next year. |
 MEET A FACULTY MEMBER
Hilde Becker - History Teacher Extraordinaire
Hilde Becker, otherwise known as 白老师, is one of our "old timers" at SYA China. Hilde has been teaching at SYA since 2002! Born in the little village of Malberg near Trier in west central Germany, Hilde came to China in 1987 while getting her MA degree in Sinology. Her initial interests were to go to Taiwan, but her mentor and professor had contacts in Lanzhou and convinced Hilde to do her research there in western China. Hilde was the first foreign teacher and student at Lanzhou University. Returning to Germany after her one year in China she realized how much she missed it, so the following year she went back to Lanzhou. Upon graduation, Hilde's professor opened the doors for her at the prestigious Nankai University in Tianjin. She later moved to Beijing to teach at the Goethe Institute. Hilde's passion is Chinese history, particularly contemporary Chinese issues and gender studies. She went on to pursue her Ph.D at the University of California Santa Cruz when an email introduced her to the opportunity to teach at School Year Abroad. What drew Hilde to SYA? "I believe strongly in the importance of immersing oneself into the local environment and being willing to step out of the box and learn about different points of view. It was an important part in my own personal experience and I believe that SYA offers an incredible opportunity for these young American students. One of the most poignant moments is when my students start talking about their Ma and Ba and show this deep personal connection to their host family! You don't need to agree with everything you learn, but the emotional bond allows you to look at situations through different lenses and allows for deeper exchange, dialogue and understanding."
Hilde is an inspiration for all of us! |
LEARN CHINESE
zhu4yi4 an1quan2 注意安全 Be careful! |
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| QUOTES |
"Since Ms. F-S didn't live up to her Fan 范Friday tradition, she owes us double next week!" Anonymous
Rebuttal: "When the sign for Fan 范 Friday goes up --you know there will be a treat -no sign - no treat! :) Will consider the double dose however!" Ms F-S
"My family is CRAZY and I love it!" Heather
"I find I understand more and more every day" Jay - or the real quote "cafeteria food is free but well what can I say......"
"Never a dull moment -- My bus hit a car today and almost made me late for school!" Jason
Host Mom asks,"What did you learn today?" Kathleen replies, " How to rob a bank!"
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| OUR UNIFORM |
You have never, I mean, never, seen teenagers so excited to get their uniforms as these SYA students! After a week of waiting, 3 sets of uniforms arrived. Now are students go around Beijing and everyone looks in amazement at these kids who are studying in a local school. "Makes for great conversation!" quipped Heather. "I just had the best time talking to people about why I am here!"
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| WHAT WE DISCOVERED IN BEIJING THIS WEEK |
Students have had a chance to get out an explore more on their own. Test their skills at map reading and taking public transportation -- getting lost and resolving the situation. Confidence is growing.
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CONGRATULATIONS!
We would like to congratulate Alison Fritz for being featured in a PBS film for her efforts in raising awareness of the importance of bees. See news on the links below:
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