Cardinal O’Hara immerse themselves in Chinese culture during exchange trip

Students at Cardinal O’Hara High School seized a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn about China firsthand. Six students and two teacher chaperones from the Tonawanda school partnered with Lewiston-Porter High School to spend 12 days as part of an educational cultural exchange.

Paul Casseri, superintendent of Lew-Port Schools, has been visiting China for years to build a student exchange program.

“His goal is to grow connections and relations between the schools in America and China and have short-term and long-term exchanges between students,” said Brian Lamping, technology teacher and student council moderator for O’Hara. “We were so pleased to be invited to be a part of this adventure.”

The Chinese government education program provides funds to schools to host American youth. The schools went Nov. 6-18.

“It was an incredible trip of a lifetime because our students didn’t have to pay anything other than flights, the passports and visas and souvenirs,” said Lamping.

The trip had three distinct parts. Students and their chaperones visited elementary and high schools. Secondly, they took part in cultural immersion through classes at Tianjin University, the oldest and one of the largest universities in China, established in 1895. Lastly, in Beijing, they took in the local sites such as the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, and Buddhist temples. 

“It was almost an educational exchange. Let’s go over there and see what it’s like to be a student there, and then take the cultural visits to the Great Wall and the temples to actually get more of a cultural educational field trip out of it,” said Lamping.

The students actually saw the Chinese school system in action as they toured campuses at all education levels. Chinese students take the same basic “compulsory” classes – math, science, history in college style lecture halls – but can take multiple forms of physical education from dance to martial arts to archery. Art may be traditional calligraphy or modern videography.

“They have a lot more choices,” said Maria McGrath, special education director.

“Their schooling is a lot more hands on, I would say,” added Ava Becerril. “They built an entire (miniature) city you could drive around in.”

They also had mental health rooms.

English is one of those compulsory classes that students begin in fourth grade. It made interactions between the American students and their Chinese hosts easier. 

“My one host buddy, he spoke pretty good English. He could hold up his end of a conversation. He did need to use a translator every once in a while,” Damon Latucca said.

Although American football isn’t played in China, they do watch it on television. Michael Brennan’s host buddy watched a game on his phone during a bus ride. His favorite team? The Buffalo Bills. 

“That was unexpected,” he said. “My mom sent me there with a bunch of Bills stickers to give to any kids I saw and tell them about the Bills. But he already knew about the Bills.” 

The students stayed in hotels and university dorms while visiting Tianjin and Beijing. They met with host families for dinners.

Tianjin, a working class city, is off the beaten path for tourists. One of the locals said they haven’t seen foreigners in 300 years.

“No one really goes there,” said McGrath. “We saw a typical experience.”

Every college  high school and the elementary school they visited greeted them with lavish opening ceremonies. They’d enter formal press conference rooms with name plates and tea, and be welcomed with gifts. They received a sign in Chinese calligraphy wishing them good fortune. 

“In Tianjin the students our age treated us like, I don’t want to say celebrities, they just kind of flood to you,” said Becerril. “Some were scared. ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve never seen anyone who looks like you before.’ They wave and they want to take pictures.”

“My family, they were honored to have us. We thanked them, but they thanked us for coming,” said Latucca.

“They were very interested in all of us, but especially me,” said Warren Adams, an African American student. People touched his hair and took his picture. “As much as they are not used to seeing Americans, they are definitely not used to seeing darker Americans.”

The students still keep in touch with their host families and would not mind taking a semester abroad. 

They found the culture to be vastly different from America at all levels. 

“It’s like being on the moon. It’s completely upside down. Every little piece of living is the opposite of what you think,” McGrath said, proving her point by saying you need to bring your own toilet paper to public restrooms. Good to know.

“I noticed a big difference in the food, in the healthiness and the quantity of it. They serve a higher quantity, but it is healthier,” said Adams.

Cars and bikes have the right of way, and it seems speed limits and stop signs are optional. However the people, and there are a lot of them, are not pushy.

“It was very much a calm like almost relaxing,” said Lamping. “For me, I was more relaxed over there than over here in daily life.”

“They’re always willing to take a second to understand,” said Becerril. “Even though we have that language barrier, it never seemed that they were mad or angry or in a rush when we tried to speak with them in English.”

Cardinal O’Hara High School has hosted more than 150 international students in 20 years, welcoming students from China, Vietnam, Germany, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Serbia and Italy. A few years ago, a Vietnamese student was named valedictorian. Currently, the school has students from Turkey and China.

“I didn’t realize what I saw and experienced until after I got back,” said Latucca. “I landed here. I was in a car with my parents. I sat there and Wow, that really just happened. That’s something I’m never going to experience again.”

“It’s so hard to explain to people who weren’t there,” added Sam Joldos. “You have to be there and you have to see it to feel it.”