Chinese students in my classroom

Friday morning at 7:45 a.m., 24 Chinese students appeared at my door, along with four of their six adult supervisors, ready to build rockets. My own 22 students filtered in also. I had organized the whole thing, but something like that is difficult to foresee all the needs. They were spread between two classrooms, desks covered with newspaper, and we had to get a labeled kit in each student's hands as well as the supplies needed to build the rockets. I had to make sure that there were enough American students spread among them to help them understand the instructions.

Once they got settled in it worked well, and amazingly, the Chinese students (who read English better than they speak it) actually caught up to where my students were in how much they got done. Mine had started the day before. They are very studious and they get down to work.

Monday morning they will be back to continue building. Then, second period, the headmaster of their school has told me he wants to visit my chemistry class and he wants to watch experiments. He speaks no English so he let me know this through an interpreter. I will have other students and adults in my classes throughout the week until the following Tuesday (October 9).

We will finish the rockets by Wednesday, painting, decals, and all. I have adult help to take them outside to spray paint, and plenty of plastic aprons. I'm thinking about going to a thrift store and picking up a dozen or so long-sleeved shirts for "painting shirts." They have a field trip on Thursday with our high schoolers, then next Friday is the really big day--we will shoot the rockets!

These young people are here on an exchange program that we have developed with a middle school of 3000 students in central China. A graduate of our school is a teacher of English at that school. We sent a group of students there last spring, and this exchange is what has developed. Both the Chinese and American governments granted permission for the trip.

When they were picked up at the airport last Wednesday night, they ran down the escalator, they were so excited. They cannot believe the luxurious accommodations we have provided for the first few nights--They are in a Holiday Inn Express. At the hotel they took pictures of the light fixtures, and the next morning at our school they asked how to use the water fountains. They are ecstatic to be here. Most have never been out of their home province and have never traveled on a plane. Last night at our fall festival they pitched right in at the end and helped to carry tables and chairs.

Tomorrow morning they will be in our church service (another first for them) and then they will go home with their host families for the next ten days.