Coming from another country, where the school system and the general society is completely opposite of what someone is acclimated to, is something that foreign exchange students have to deal with. Ten students and their teacher traveled from Taiwan on a 15 hour plane ride to spend time in Liberty schools at the end of September, and experience the new culture. The students have been kept busy during their two week stay.
“Here in America, my students went to classes like cooking and grammar; they loved Chinese class. They used the Chinese language to interact with each other and the American students in their Chinese class. On Monday, we went to LiveStrong Stadium and the TV studio in Kansas City. Wednesday, we went to the Pony Express Museum and Psychiatric Hospital which was very neat. Thursday, we visited elementary and junior highs which was very neat and exciting and the students loved it.” Taiwanese teacher Eve Long said.
With a culture so different from what American students are used to, the Taiwanese students experienced things they never have before, including various sporting events, trips to popular Kansas City cuisines, and staying with a family from the high schools.
“My favorite thing in America was when we watched the volleyball game at the high school. It was very different than what I see at home,” Taiwanese student Kiwi Wen said.
With the students being opened up to new systems and seeing how schools in other countries work, they see how different their school actually is.
“High school for them is slightly different. ‘10th grade’ for us is ‘high school 1’ for them; ‘11th grade’ is ‘high school 2’; ‘12th grade’ is ‘high school 3’. Also, preschool and kindergarten are in their own building, while 1st-6th is elementary, and 7th-9th is junior high,” Chinese teacherShainguu Hsieh said.
In addition to the differences in the way the grades are organized, changes range all the way from food to school size.
“For our school lunch, there’s rice, meat, and a vegetable. It is the same every day and we aren’t allowed to bring our own lunch from home,” Taiwanese student Allen Shih said. “We ride the local bus at the bus station to school, usually. You have to pay extra to ride a school bus. We have about 2000-3000 students at my school and our school is a lot smaller than Liberty North. Also, our school starts at 7:30am and we get out at 8:30pm.”
While students in Liberty and all across America get to pick their classes and pick their own major depending on what they are interested in, it is much different for students across the world.
“The education system is very different. In Taiwan, the courses are very different because the students have a subject chosen for them at an early age in which they major in, like math, science, or psychology. They take classes depending on that major. In Liberty, the students can pick their own classes. Also, the decoration of the classrooms is much different. The American classrooms are much more colorful,” Long said.
In Taiwan, the students are organized by an assigned number, which is similar to the number given to students in our district that they use for lunch and library check-outs. Despite the obvious variations between American schools and Taiwanese schools, the foreign exchange students noted similarities and revealed their opinion on the two systems.
“I like how much earlier we get out at Liberty North and the many different food choices that are offered. I do like it here; we have similar food places like McDonald’s, KFC, and Pizza Hut. I like the school system, but I miss the food in Taiwan,” Shih said.