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Visiting 厦门外购与学校

China culture shock exploring 厦门 Friends NSLI-Y 厦门

View from the boys dorm hallway

After a regular morning schedule, we took an hour bus ride to 厦门外国语学校 (Xiamen Foreign Language School). It was crazy, their school life is so much different than ours. For example, almost every middle and high student lives on a school campus, sort of like a boarding school that is close to home. Even my teacher, 杨老师, went to a boarding school type middle school. I could not imagine that; being 11-12 years old and being put in that type of environment. 杨老师 said that she used to go into the bathroom and cry when things were too                                                                                    overwhelming or she missed her parents. 

At 厦门外国语学校 the students focus on studying foreign languages, given the name of the school. Almost all the students study English but if you studied another language in middle school you could take a high school examination and be put in a Japanese, German, Spanish, or French.

Building to the right = boys dorm

When we first arrived at 厦门外国语学校 we sat in a conference type lounge area while the president of the high school welcomed us. After that individual students talked about their experience in that school. Afterwards, each team was assigned one 厦门外国语 student who gave us a quick tour of the school for 25 minutes. Our "tour guide" was super smart and completely fluent in English. But her passion was in Japanese but she was not in any Japanese classes at 厦门外国语学校 so she studied independently. She thrived so much that was able to pass the examination and this following school year will take a formal Japanese class. She said she wishes to major in Japanese studies in college. 

The first stop on our mini tour was the boys dorm building. 6 guys share 1 room! And the rooms are not the big. We could not go into the rooms but we were able to walk inside the building. Also the guys dormitory has balconies while the girls dorms do not. The school greatly frowns upon using technology for anything other than school and education; therefore, there is no electricity in the dorm rooms. In order to charge your phones, one must lock it up in a small cupboard like box and plug it in. 

Typical classroom

Next she showed us the classrooms. Unlike Americans classes at 厦门外国语学校 the students are assigned a single classroom to stay in all day. They stay in the same seats all day while a new teacher comes in to teach class. I don't know if I could sit in the same place all day. On average, each class has a minimum of 30 students! In my schools if there are 30 students then the administration makes a new class. Also the rooms are assigned to students based on their academics. For example, for seniors there are 15 classrooms. Classroom 1 is dedicated to the highest preforming students in the arts and humanities field while classroom 15 is assigned the the highest preforming science students. Then classrooms 2 and 14 go to the next highest preforming students and so forth. There are also certain classrooms and locations around the campus that are dedicated for students to study for the 高考 (gao kao/ college examination).

Study area for 高考 preparation 

Fun fact: students cannot use the internet in the school, they cannot even bring laptops with them to school. The only time they can use the internet in on their permanent computers that are in the hallway.

Next we walked around campus and saw its beauty and ended up at the Confucius statue. If you do not already know, Confucius is a philosopher whose views have dramatically shaped Chinese and even American culture throughout the years. He was born on September 28, 551 BCE in a poor family but built himself up and eventually had over 3000 followers. It is said that if you bow and wish at the Confucius statue, you will receive a high 高考 score.  

Bad translations are so funny

After touring the campus we joined their orientation program that was being held today as well. They were recruiting new students to apply for 厦门外国语学校. First they introduced us to the crowd then we had a quick "talent show" type performance. A few of the NSLI-Y students sung "Viva la Vida" while another participant, Rachael, played the guitar. Next 2 girls, Joy and Samara, danced a modern dance. Following them was my favorite. Maddie, Skylar, and I invited Chinese students to come to the stage to dance to a very hip and popular song in China, 小苹果 (xiao ping guo/ small apple). It was so much fun because half way through the song all the NSLI-Y students joined us on stage to sing and dance which encouraged more Chinese students to come on stage. 

After dancing and having fun we played a few games with the Chinese students which was fun but sometimes confusing. Following that we went outside and took a group picture with the 厦门外购与学校 students in front of the Confucius statue. I would post it but they haven't sent it to me yet. Check my page named "Pictures from the Journey" to see it later. We had a few minutes to chat with the students which was really fun, we even exchange WeChat usernames. 

We then hopped on the bus for an hour long ride back to 厦门 which during the entire ride I thought I was going to pee my pants. We finally made it back to campus but we didn't go back to our dorms, we actually went outside of campus!!!! We went across the street to a shopping/ food court area where we all were given 100 元 to spend around the mall for dinner. I wasn't too hungry so I ate at KFC. It was fun having American food again. I then got chocolate bubble tea which I would highly recommend. Just don't drink all the bubbles at once like I did because it is so sweet and too much for your stomach. I found a makeup/ convince store where a bunch of us bought nail polish and makeup for super cheap. After shopping I walked around the mall with Skylar. He was dedicated to win the "claw" game that are in the mall arcades. But after spending 20 元 he was out of coins and still did not succeed in getting a teddy bear holding a duck. 

Walking to the shopping center

All in all, it was a very fun but tiring day. Today we are going to 泉州, an ancient city near us. I'm excited but mostly because that means we won't have classes!!!