At the end of last term, I was lucky enough to be selected by Christchurch Educated as one of six students to represent Christchurch. The aim of the delegation was to establish relationships between Christchurch and schools in the Sichuan Region of China.
I departed Christchurch on a long 24 hour journey to Chengdu via Shanghai. I could feel my nerves and excitement building the closer I got to my destination. Once I arrived in Chengdu I had no time to feel nervous as I was taken straight to Chengdu Bilingual Experimental School to be formally welcomed and meet my host family. I stayed with my lovely host family (who couldn't speak any English) for a week. They went out of their way to take me to so many interesting places to experience the Chengdu culture. I felt grateful to experience everything from bustling, colourful night markets to traditional Chengdu restaurants and amazing local tourists attractions. My host family even taught me how to make dumplings and took me ice skating.
I attended school for a week, the days were long but it was fascinating to take part in all the different lessons they have. The lessons were all in Chinese but I could still join in things like, art, embroidery, maths and PE and I was a pro in the English class! The students were very friendly and included me in everything. I have made many new friendships.
At the end of the week I had to say my goodbyes to the host family and join the rest of the delegation. We ran a big education fair hosting over 500 students and teaching them about Christchurch. That weekend I was fortunate to have a once in a lifetime chance of visiting the pandas. They were super cute especially the babies.
The next part of my adventure was to fly to Guangzhou where I attended the Guangzhou Foreign Language boarding school. My school day started at 6:20am and went through until 9:30 pm. It was exhausting but the whole experience of everything from the lessons to school lunches and life in the dorm was lots of fun and one I will never forget.
Although I was looking forward to coming home I felt proud of what I had accomplished and knew I had made the most of such an incredible opportunity.