We had an early start today, heading to the high school for a welcome ceremony and classroom shadowing for the day. There is torrential rain as we hunt for the right bus stop.
We arrive soaking wet, and wait for the Taiwanese students. Zhong Zheng is huge. 2400 students but it’s only grades 10-12. It’s the largest high school in Taiwan.
They’re ready for us and we head into a large conference room for the welcome ceremony. As we entered the room a few of our students immediately recognized their homestay partners and gave them a wave. We heard speeches from the Zhong Zheng Principal and our own Principal Wadkins.
After we exchanged gifts between schools, a few Taiwanese students gave a presentation all about the island, food, and culture. Then everyone got up and found their homestay partner. It was so much fun seeing each pair approach this conversation in their own unique way. Big hugs, a high five, or sometimes just an awkward exchange without eye contact haha. By the end of this weekend these partners will all be bonded in a way that’s hard to imagine right now.
Now they’re off! All the students shuffle out to join their partners for the day, attending classes, eating school lunch, playing sports, etc.
After school, our students had many stories about their seeming-celebrity status in their classes. Sky said there was at one point a line of students waiting to take a picture with him! Tygan said he caught people taking photos of him and posting it on social. Rumor has it that Cullen is still scrolling through his new friend requests on Instagram 😉
We’ll be back tomorrow for the International Youth Summit and presentations!
P.S. Afterwards we all packed on to a bus that would take us back to our hotel. Nathan sat next to an older woman who overhead him speak Mandarin. Suddenly Nathan was being peppered with questions from multiple old ladies. They talked the entire ride home 🙂
