云大附中星耀校区高2013级学生李芊雨留美一学年感言

高2013级学生  李芊雨

2013年8月下旬至2014年5月初,作为云大附中的交流学生,我有幸到我校在美国的姊妹学校——美国阿拉斯加州锡特卡市Mt. Edgecumbe高中留学一年。

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蓦然回首,才发现在美国短短八个月的学习生活已成为我青春中不可或缺的记忆。有时睡前,回忆在美国的异域时光,浮上心头的不仅有海外生活的酸甜苦辣,更有独立后的欣然欢喜。

当我阅读学校网站上前几届参加与姊妹学校Mt. Edgecumbe高中的云附学姐们的留美感言时,她们大多介绍的是在校的多彩课程和缤纷的课外活动,为了更好地与大家分享我们通过这一交流项目得到的收获,我将加述精彩有趣的寄宿家庭生活和细微生活的趣事。

圣诞节,是西方国家的“春节”。我亦有幸在美国度过了一个正宗的圣诞节,不同于我们对圣诞节的理解——在繁华的街道上进行着狂欢,拥挤的人群削弱了宗教的神圣和节日的意义。在美国过圣诞节时,我寄宿在当地家庭。我的寄宿家庭是一对六十多岁的老夫妻和他们儿子一起组成的“音乐航海世家”。圣诞节前夜,在他们的带领下,我第一次参加了礼拜,众人一起唱诵着圣歌,欣赏着表演,在浓浓的宗教氛围中,与认识、不认识的人握手微笑,互送新年的祝福与期盼,内心一片温暖平和。而在圣诞节的当天,风趣幽默的男主人和的朋友们在家里开起了音乐会,有人拉手风琴,有人弹吉他,加上钢琴的伴奏,混合着众人美妙的和音,让在一旁捧着香槟、啃着披萨还不时跟着哼哼几句的我乐不可支。会后的猜词游戏让我绞尽脑汁,我狂查字典的模样更是让大家笑得前仰后合。

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短短的圣诞假期我也不忘筹备我们中国人自己的节日,我结识了当地的中国华侨们,并在这美丽小小的海滨城市,锡特卡,举办了第一场中国的春节联欢晚会,让大家进一步了解了中国的传统文化。一曲《恭喜恭喜》拉开了欢喜的大幕,望着台下观众虽听不懂却乐在其中的样子,我打心底为身为一个炎黄子孙而骄傲。一首小提琴曲《梁祝》更是诉说着古今中外对爱情的美好夙愿。

总之,在美国姊妹学校学习的这八个月,我不仅学会如何用英文表达我的想法,自己解决独立生活中遇到的各种题,比如向网购商家索取应退的费用,为自己购买买保险、预订机票。在美国的这八个月,让我在生理和心理上都有了很大的成长,非常感激学校给我的这个作为交换生到美国高中交流的机会,希望项目这个能继续下去,让云附更多的学生得到到异国学习、成长和交流的宝贵机会。

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My Gorgeous School Year in the USA

 

Looking back, I find that the eight months of learning and living in the United States has become an indispensable part of in my youth. Sometimes, when I recall my days in the United States before sleeping time, not only do I appreciate the benefits of studying overseas, but also I more readily welcome the joy after my self-independence.

When I read the previous fellow students’ article about their visit to our sister school — Mt. Edgecumbe High School, I sensed that most of them wrote about the colorful school courses and extracurricular activities. In order to give you more idea and understanding of the exchange program, I will add some information about the interesting lodging family life and fine life of fun.

Christmas, is the “Spring Festival” in the West. I was lucky enough to be in the United States and had an authentic Christmas, which is quite different from our previous knowledge and understanding of Christmas back in China — the carnival people in busy streets, the crowds weakening the holy atmosphere of religion and the true meaning of the festival.

My host family is an old couple of more than 60 years and their son, who form a “music sailing family”. On Christmas Eve there, for the first time, I took part in the festive week with their leading, the crowd chanted together with hymns, enjoying the shows. In the thick atmosphere of religion, people, acquaintances and strangers, shook hands with each other. Everybody sent New Year wishes and expectations to each other, a warm and peaceful atmosphere surrounding us. On Christmas Day, my humorous host and his friends launched a concert at home. Someone played the guitar, with the piano accompanying. Losing myself in the beautiful sounds, I held a glass of champagne, ate pizza from time to time, and also hummed a few words with the musicians. Afterwards, the word guessing game made me rack my brains. My craziness when consulting the dictionary for the answer made everybody laugh their head off.

Over the short Christmas holiday, I didn’t forget to prepare our own festival, the Spring Festival. I met with the local overseas Chinese in this small beautiful coastal city of Sitka. Together, we hosted the first ever China’s Spring Festival gala in town, which made everybody deeply impressed by the traditional culture of China. The song “gong xi gong xi” pulled open the curtain with great joy. For the audience, although they couldn’t understand the lyrics, they found the gala show greatly enjoyable. This experience hit the bottom of my heart for the pride of being a Chinese. The graceful melody of “Butterfly Lovers” seemed to tell the beautiful dream of love which is shared by both ancient and modern Chinese, and foreigner alike.

In a word, my overseas study in the past eight months has made me learn so much. I have learned how to express my ideas in English, how to solve problems, and how to live an independent life. These include claiming refund from the online suppliers and buying insurance and air tickets for myself.

These eight months has made me grow physically and mentally. I am very grateful to our school for giving me this valuable opportunity as an exchange student to get involved in this rewarding exchange program. I sincerely hope that this program will continue, and make more students have the chance to study in a foreign country, and grow and benefit as much as me.