Our trip to the No. 2 High School of Zhuzhou, Hunan, was incredible. We had a great time with every activity we did there, from sharing American life to experiencing the local culture. I went into this trip hoping to make new friends and experience the beauty of Chinese culture, and I found myself doing exactly so. I even gained way more than I expected. Not only did I make some amazing, kind, and helpful American friends by sharing a living space, but I also made some wonderful Chinese friends who were very happy to learn from us and share their experiences with us. One such example is a student named Joey, who told us about great restaurants to eat at and gave each of us gifts as we were about to leave.

At first, I found myself very nervous about teaching, worried that I wouldn’t be able to capture their attention or speak well enough; however, the students at Zhuzhou No. 2 High School were curious and happy to have us, so I ended up having no issues at all. The moment I started teaching, I learnt that high school students in China are just like high school students in America: they want to learn, they make jokes, they laugh heartily, they ask questions, and much more beyond that. I recall that we originally planned 5 minutes for our class time for the Chinese students to ask questions about the United States.

However, we quickly realized that this Q&A part became the most well-liked portion of class and often ended up taking way more time than we expected. It would often drag on a few minutes after class ends, and even as we leave hurriedly to get to our second session on time, the Chinese students would still enthusiastically talk to us, asking more questions and trying to add us on WeChat. This trip connected every one of us American high schoolers to our Chinese counterparts, which I think is amazing. Beyond our differences in nationality and culture, we were surprised to find out that we shared a lot in common, from celebrities to games to music. It turns out the gap between us was not as wide as we believed.

No. 2 High School of Zhuzhou offered us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience this cultural exchange. We had a chance to participate in enjoyable classes where we practiced calligraphy, played Chinese chess, and tried Chinese paper cutting. Aside from the traditional arts, we also visited the school’s computer lab, where we tried playing Flight Simulator and made our 3D models, which we 3D printed.

Outside of class, we enjoyed the late-night activities with Chinese students, including volleyball, basketball, playing cards, and going to the school gym. We ate amazing food in the cafeteria and bought treats and drinks we would never see in America from the school market. Not many will ever have an opportunity like this one, and I cannot thank No. 2 High School and the Thousand Miles Initiative enough for this valuable experience.