Nine exchange students from RDFZ School in Beijing, China spent the week at Tabor, visiting classes, taking part in afternoon activities, and staying with local host families. We gave them a little assignment to help them to practice their written English and story telling:
- What were you looking forward to before you came to Tabor?
Being abroad is always an interesting event for all of us, especially when we have to go to a place that is 13 hours away on a plane. We were curious about how people live their lives on the other side of the world.
- How are things different/same as you expected.
The food tasted so sugary that sometimes we could not even stand it. We were surprised at what a quiet location the school was in with pine trees along the road, rabbits jumping out on the street, and squirrels climbing up on the top of branches. Instead of walking outside surrounded by giant buildings, the ocean was a beautiful surprise. What I appreciated the most is every day we ended up doing exercises, such as crew practice, playing basketball, and playing squash.
- What were your first impressions?
The food was what immediately stood out, starting with the dining hall on campus. When I first got into the dining hall, I saw a lot of kinds of food. Some of them I even can’t say the name, but they all really tasted good. After the meal, I got ice cream. I think that the best thing in the dining hall is that ice-cream machine. In China, our dining hall is not as good and we always order food and get delivery. Also, the food in restaurants was also delicious. I went to a burger restaurant with my host family. In China, we only have McDonalds’s burgers. It’s quite different from the “real” burger I had in America. Lobster is another food that’s better than in China. My host family took me out for a lobster roll and the lobster here was really fresh.
4. How is the school day different?
I think there are so many differences between our teaching styles. In a Chinese class, teachers give a lecture and then give us some exercises to do. And only at this time, after we have done the exercise, can we ask questions we don’t know to our teacher. But at Tabor, teachers are full of passion and very interesting, and they also give us a question before classes begin. After we have learned the context of the class, teachers talk about questions to us and ask us what we think about them. At our school, that never happens! So, in my point of view, I prefer Tabor’s teaching method!
- How are sports the same or different?
Tabor has many kinds of sports, like squash, hockey, crew, and so on. We think the gym, which has a lot of advanced equipment and facilities, is very nice. The sports equipment at Tabor is more abundant than at our school, and students have more exercise and leisure time after school, which we think is a good way to release stress and also improve our non-academic skills. Tabor Academy is special, it is near the ocean, so it has some activities in the ocean like sailing, and we really appreciated these kinds of activities.
- Summary
The time that we spent with our host families was also very precious. We easily blended in with our host families and they were so friendly, nice and fun to be around. They also shared their experiences and stories with us. Furthermore, we also liked the dining hall in Tabor very much, the food is nice, especially the ice cream!!!
All teachers and students were really friendly; they always made us feel very welcomed. We made a lot of friends at Tabor, and we also improved our English speaking skills. We really enjoyed spending time here.
