Exchanges & Visits
China 2004
Mandarin Immersion Programme: Hangzhou
16 sixth form students and 4 teachers receive a certificate in Mandarin from Zheijiang Gongye Daxue, University of Technology, Hangzhou.
Thanks to a generous grant from the British Council, on the last day of term, we were on our way to Shanghai PuDong airport. After a 35-hour journey including a 12 hour flight, we were warmly welcomed by our Chinese hosts, the students and teachers from Zheijiang University Gongye Daxue, with ten other schools from the UK, in Hangzhou, South West China.
The British Council Summer study programme takes place in the summer holidays, and for Our Lady’s, this was the 2nd British Council Summer Camp. Two years ago, a small group of students and teachers from OLC spent 3 weeks in Beijing. The British Council hosts Summer Camps in Beijing, Kunming, Hangzhou and Xiamen.
Most did not know any Mandarin, but we all attended a couple of Cultural brief sessions, delivered by Angela, a teacher from SOAS. The pace of the days, which followed, can only be described as intense: in spite of the jet lag and the searing heat, we survived the lessons in the morning, and enjoyed the visits in the afternoon. Each morning we had 3 hours of Mandarin, taught by a local teacher and a team of trainee teachers. Most students from other schools could speak quite a bit of Mandarin, but all of us were placed in the beginners group. Our teacher was very patient: we were tired, hot and –it has to be said- easily entertained or distracted, but she taught us a lot of Chinese. We all started to use the survival language acquired in lessons in shops and markets, practising ordering meals, counting money and haggling price. But more importantly, we enjoyed chatting in English and Mandarin with our new Chinese friends!
Zheijiang University campus looks like a small town: it normally hosts a total of 20 000 students. The hotel accommodation was outstanding: for most of us, Hackney residents, it was our first time in a 4 star hotel. The rooms were spacious, very comfortable, clean and most importantly, air-conditioned! After lunch, and a short rest, a variety of activities were organised for us: cultural recreational or educational, including a lot of sightseeing, shows, shopping, and workshops... Our guides were local students, who spent the 3 weeks accompanying us everywhere, helping us, guiding us, and sorting out all our problems. We keep in touch with them, courtesy of MSN. One afternoon, we went to a theme park, “Song Dynasty City”. We had such fun there! We saw impressive displays of Chinese life during the Song Dynasty. After a delicious dinner, we took part in the water festival, a massive 30mn long water fight, with loud music and light show in the background. Even the teachers joined in! The mosquitoes loved it too…
On another occasion, we enjoyed travelling down a shallow river on flimsy bamboo rafts, getting our ankles snapped while learning the bamboo poles dance, preparing our own barbecue, and dancing round a beach bonfire. Most evenings, we emailed a summary of the day to our friends and family, or watched films. Or we just enjoyed our free time together, socialising with our new friends, British and Chinese. Some of us often got into smaller groups and organised local visits, shopping or eating out together.
We always felt safe in China, there is a relaxed feel about, with people smiling and laughing together everywhere, enjoying each other’s company, chatting, eating, playing mah-jong.
Thanks to Lisa Wang, a teacher from Hangzhou who teaches a group of talented Year 8 boys in Liverpool, we were able to spend a day in Shanghai. The size of the buildings is truly impressive, and we all admired the architecture of this ultra modern city. We learned from the Liverpool boys that the Shanghai seafront has the same clock tower as the Liverpool seafront!
As well as giving us Chinese language skills, an invaluable asset for life, our stay in China gave us the priceless opportunity to be exposed to this complex, multi-layered culture and society. China is truly a bustling country, energetic, loud, busy, and exciting!
Several of us are now continuing with our Chinese studies. An article is currently been written for the local press, the diary produced jointly by the teachers and students is been edited. We are also planning for a January function about our experience in China. Some of us will definitely return to China in the near future.The whole venture was a memorable experience, a unique opportunity that we won’t forget in a long time.
Wesley AGOR-BELL, Lisa BARTON, Simon BINITIE, Abena BOLLER, Simon CHAN, Ade FAJEMIROKUN, Rashmi KATATHARA, Leonora MARLOW, Matilda OKUYIGA, Patrick O'NEILL, Laura O'SULLIVAN, Audrey OTU, Eve OWEN, Letitia TAMBI, Jennifer TORRES, Mary TRAN
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