Students and teachers are settling back in to daily life at BFA Fairfax after returning from a whirlwind week in China. It’s hard to imagine that just last week we were on the other side of the world.
We were graciously invited by Spiral International to be ambassadors for international exchange in which we visited six schools in three cities in five days. We were even able to reunite briefly with students in Chongqing and Chengdu who had previously participated in our summer cultural exchange program.
Students and staff were very warmly welcomed to each school. We were invited to participate in round table discussions with administration, morning exercises, flag raising and traditional fan dance ceremonies, dance lessons, paper cutting, kung fu, and a friendly basketball match all before lunch on Monday! We were treated to lessons in leaf pressing, calligraphy, and we are still humming the tune we learned about the kapok tree (in Mandarin). Students shadowed classes in physics, politics, psychology, mathematics, and of course English.
Though our days were full, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to explore numerous museums, the famous Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, and downtowns Chongqing, Chengdu, and Guangzhou.
Our students made BFA proud. They were adventurous eaters, resilient travelers, and cultural ambassadors who reminded us constantly of the human connections which we all share.
The FWSU Story 