MARLBORO – A trip to Wujiang, China, proved to be an educational and memorable experience for six young adults from Marlboro who journeyed overseas this year.
Students Harry Allex, Mary Chen, Sebastian Sokolov, James Tang, Ivy Wang and Jadi Wang flew to China with chaperones Kristina Cain and Elyse Scheiner and stayed with host families from June 26 to July 8.
Cain is a social studies teacher at the Marlboro Middle School. Scheiner is an English as a Second Language teacher at the Marlboro Elementary School and at the Frank J. Dugan Elementary School.
During a recent meeting of the Marlboro Township Council, the students discussed their trip with municipal officials. Later, Cain and Wain met with a reporter to talk about the adventure.
Marlboro’s Youth Exchange Program was founded in 1991 when municipal officials forged a partnership with Nanto City, Japan, and became sister cities. In 2011, the program expanded to include a partnership with Wujiang, China.
As part of the program, Marlboro students visit China and young adults from China visit Marlboro where they reside with local families and enjoy various activities and learn about the culture of the nation they are visiting.
Cain said young adults between the ages of 13 and 17 may apply to travel overseas. Each applicant is asked to write an essay about why he or she wants to participate in the youth exchange.
“Before leaving, our group met many times to get to know each other and to plan our itinerary and events,” Cain said. “We even attended Chinese school to brush up on our Mandarin. Our students who went to China (in late June and early July) later hosted their new friends when (the young adults from China) visited America at the end of the summer.”
Speaking about the journey to China, Cain said that after a 17-hour flight, the representatives from Marlboro were greeted at the airport by their host families. For the first week of their visit, the students stayed with host families.
In Wujiang, which is in southeast China, the students toured the city’s new middle school. James Tang and Mary Chen played piano at the school’s graduation ceremony the next day. The guests from Marlboro attended a dinner in their honor that was hosted by the Wujiang town council and the deputy mayor, and accepted gifts that were presented to them.
The Marlboro group visited the Oriental Pearl Radio and TV Tower in Shanghai, the streets of Suzhou, Tongli Lake, and they took an overnight train to Beijing. In Beijing, they visited Tiananmen Square, Beijing National Stadium (known as the Bird’s Nest), which was built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven.
Cain and Ivy Wang, who is a junior at High Technology High School, Lincroft, were asked how the guests handled the language and cultural differences.
“We always had a bilingual tour guide with us so fortunately the language barrier was never a problem,” Cain said. “Ivy (Wang) and Mary (Chen) are also pretty good at Mandarin and were very helpful. For the students who did not speak Mandarin, they figured it out.”
Wang said she was already familiar with the language, “but after translating for the students for a day or two, it stopped being necessary. It was just as easy making friends with the Chinese students as it is making new friends in America, despite the language barrier.
“They were fun and really wanted to be friends with us, pantomiming what they wanted to say when they couldn’t find it in their limited English vocabulary. We played cards and taught each other new games. In the end, we just had fun, even if we couldn’t totally communicate,” she said.
Cain said she enjoyed observing the middle school classes.
“It might be in a different language on a different continent, but learning is the same everywhere,” she said. “I thought it was interesting that all of the Chinese students wear uniforms and eat school-made lunches. They are taught that everyone is equal, regardless of a family’s status.
“My favorite part was climbing the Great Wall. It was a very hot day, but I was determined to make it all the way to the top. I made it and beat all of the students. I can proudly wear my ‘I Climbed the Great Wall’ shirt when I teach about it this year,” Cain said.
“I loved all the food,” Wang said. “We could expect to have a good meal wherever we went and a lot of times they treated us to really fancy multiple course meals. It was all pretty different, but delicious.”
Later in the summer, from July 29 through Aug. 3, the Marlboro students welcomed visitors from China.
“We went to Point Pleasant Beach and the students swam in the ocean,” Cain said. “We did all-American activities like bowling, mini-golf and ice cream at Jersey Freeze. The students toured Colts Neck High School, Princeton University and our town hall.
“We went to the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton Township. Some of the students attended the Monmouth County Fair and some ran a 5K race at the New Jersey Festival of Ballooning with their host families. A farewell dinner was hosted for the students and families on Aug. 2,” she said.
“It was an absolutely amazing experience,” Cain said of the trip to China. “You can read about history and other cultures, but nothing compares to being immersed in it. All of my friends said, ‘China? Why would you go there?’ The country has such a rich and long history and the architecture and gardens were absolutely beautiful. A trip like this helps to put your life back in perspective of what is truly important.”
“Before we arrived, I was a little anxious, wondering how it would go,” Wang said. “Maybe the Chinese students wouldn’t like us, or living with the host families would be really awkward. But everything went much smoother than I had feared and it was a really enjoyable experience.”
For more information about the Marlboro youth exchange program as a host family or as a participant, email YouthExchange@marlboro-nj.gov and provide a telephone number.
