Chinese classes recently embarked on what was most likely the most memorable journey of their school careers to date. On March 16, a group of students from a variety of Chinese A-C eighth grade classes travelled to Beijing with chaperones Mr. Chris Chen and Mrs. Belle Hayward.
Students arrived in Beijing after a long day of travel, and although they were exhausted, they were all ready and raring to go when the tour guide, Jeffrey Schwab, picked them up and handed out their work booklets. Over the course of the trip, the booklets were used as a way to learn new vocabulary and as a way to help complete activities.
After a relatively uneventful first day, the following days brought a highlight for everybody. They hiked up the Great Wall of China, visited Tiananmen Square, explored the Forbidden City and its supposed 9,999 rooms, as well as tackled scavenger hunts in the dusty alleys of Southern Beijing. They explored nearly every inch of the city, and met exchange students from a multitude of schools. They also took the state-of-the art bullet train to Shanghai and delved into the multicultural history of the city.
Despite the abundance of exciting and educational activities students took part in, several of the students agree that the best part of this trip was the food. However, some of them were pushing the limits of their palettes; eighth grade student Liam Hamama even tried a chicken head at a local restaurant near the Great Wall. They were all surprised by the variety of delicious food that each restaurant offered.
On the trip, everybody bonded closely with their friends but all managed to stretch out a little and make some new ones. As the Chinese would say, our trip to Beijing and Shanghai was very good.
