17 Days to go!!

The past month has certainly been a busy one as we prepare for our visit to China and in particular our time in Changshu at Changshu Foreign Language Middle School. We have received our official invitation from the Principal of CFLMS and the school is planning a great program for us to ensure our students gain an insight into Chinese family life, culture and their wonderful school.
Our students have begun working on the project they must complete as a part of the Overseas Learning Experience program. In pairs they will be comparing different aspects of Australian and Chinese life to try and determine if Australian teenagers have better lives and futures than Chinese teenagers. Each pair has been working on their preliminary research here in Australia and planning how they will collect data to help them with the project while they are away.
There has been a huge amount of learning already amongst the group as they have worked to increase their knowledge of China in preparation for the trip. Everyone has learnt at least a few basic greetings in Mandarin and students have been studying some Chinese history and culture along with all Year 10 students in the schools Year 10 SOSE classes. While our group is in China the remaining Year 10 students at Yarram Secondary will visit the Chinese Museum and have a meal in Chinatown.
The students were able to spend some more time with the Neerim District Secondary College Students when we visited the Chinese Exploratorium at Lowanna Secondary College. The students enjoyed using the interactive screens and sharing what they had learnt about the main cities and sites we will be visiting in China. I believe the sharing of this trip with another school has been very beneficial for all of the students involved. Many have already been pushed out of their comfort zones as they get to know the 'strangers' they are going to spend 21 days travelling with. Some great friendships have been formed and will only be strengthened through the sharing of this incredible experience.
CFLMS has organised the host families for us and students are now sharing email contact with their host brothers and sisters as they take the first steps in getting to know one another before we arrive in Changshu. This has certainly added to the excitement for our students as this contact with another person in another country suddenly makes the trip very real!
We are very grateful for the work being done by Changshu Foreign Language Middle School to ensure our trip to China will be an experience of a lifetime for all of the students involved.
Only 17 days to go!