Crossing Borders, Building Bonds: Our Exchange with Yokohama Overseas Chinese School
Written by Mr. Wilmott
Our school has been cooperating with Yokohama Overseas Chinese School in Japan for many years. We have a student exchange program co-ordinated by our dean of academic affairs, Stella Lin, for students in grades 10 and 11.
Currently, the CIS campus in Tainan has been home for three wonderful Japanese students this semester: Koh, Mirac, and Julin. They worked hard to get here, writing long essays in Chinese as well as carrying on conversations with three teachers in English and Chinese.
All three came here to improve their communication skills in Chinese and English and feel both have dramatically gotten better. Due, in large part, to the curriculum they have had to follow in their classes as well as through chatting with teachers and fellow classmates. This language improvement, they add, has given them confidence with their interpersonal skills and they look on future endeavors and career opportunities with great optimism and excitement.
According to them, they have immensely enjoyed their time here and don’t want to leave. These sentiments are shared by students and staff as their friendly manner and happy disposition made them instant family. As for their most memorable experiences, they said that they loved the bubble milk tea (of course), travelling around Taiwan, setting their dreams aloft during the Jiufen Lantern Festival and chatting with their Taiwanese counterparts.
They feel that the experiences they have had on this exchange; the opportunities, taking care of their responsibilities and meeting new people, have helped them mature and make them more understanding individuals in society.
Though the time is brief, they feel they have thoroughly enjoyed it here. Julin said that she would like to work in Taiwan and continue to use her polished language skills. Mirac would like to attend university here in Taiwan and Koh, although she misses her dog, would like to study at an international college and then work at Disney.
Whatever they choose, we’re sure they’ll be successful. Good luck!
