Day 5: Hai'an & The Experimental School

Left early in the morning for a five hour drive northwest of Ningbo to Hai'an. Today we met with the vice mayor, her deputy of education, the principal of the Hai'an Experimental High School and his vice principal. We talked about educational exchange and whether or not such opportunities would be of interest to his students. We learned about the importance the families in his community place on education and taking the high school placement test in China. We also learned how important education is to families in Hai'an. One of our exchange student's husband accompanied us and explained that most parents will sacrifice everything for their children's education. They will save and save and even pay 50,000 yen to get their child in the best kindergarten. It is clear to me that the value of education here in China is very high. Students work hard at education and they want to get the best education. Our student's husband explained that to him American education taught him to be open minded and free thinking. He said the Chinese higher education is very different and he was not as challenged by that. He felt the teachers just gave knowledge. He is glad he has had both experiences. He said that some communities still need to be educated about the possibilities and benefits of studying in the US. after the meeting we visited the Hai'an technical high school. The students were very interested to see us.we met the principal who told us about the school and walked us around the grounds and told us about the new building projects. The school has approximately 3000 students who study various vocations. The students were very interested in seeing us. One student was following us around and taking our picture. I was able to hand him one of my business card which made him very excited and happy. We were with the vice mayor and I am sure the students recognized her and were interested in her. Because we were Americans and were with her the students thought we were really important guests. They made us feel very welcome.