云大附中星耀校区2014—2015学年赴美交流学生杨婧琳发回美国留学感言

不得不感叹时光飞逝,还没从新环境、新学校、新学期带给我的兴奋中回过神来,一眨眼,我就已在太平洋彼岸的美国阿拉斯加州Mt.Edgecumbe高中(MEHS)度过了近一个学期!

MEHS给我的第一印象——热情、友好,这把我来美国之前的担忧和焦虑一扫而光。

首先,我很感激这个学校提供的自由选课机会,在老师的帮助下,我最终选择了音乐1、阅读、化学和英语1作为我第一学期的课程。

与中国不同的是,在化学课上,每学习一个新的知识点,老师就发给我们一本课题,让我们分组做实验、记录、讨论并总结。在实验的过程中,我们亲眼见证了一个个化学变化,也逐渐建立起了友谊和默契,虽然有一次我还和我的搭档因为盐酸浓度问题发生了一点小争执。在学习阿伏加德罗定律时,我们还在课上烤棉花糖和巧克力吃呢。

英语课可以算是最让我紧张的课了,我们不仅要在很短的时间内读完厚厚的一整本书、记录读书笔记、准备读书成果测试,还要自己搜集资料、围绕课题完成论文。我们的第一个论文大课题是埃博拉病毒,在完成研究论文之前我们必须要完成阅读《高危地带》(the Hot Zone),这是一本关于埃博拉病毒的起源和研究的科学著作,在这本书里面作者Preston Richard 细述了埃博拉病毒的传播、危害和研究历程,这也是我所读的第一本纯学术性的书。为了带动我们更好地学习,老师甚至还打扮成医生的模样给我们上课、一起做实验、讨论。可是有时阅读量还是让我感到有点吃力,很怕自己完成不了阅读任务而耽误了整个小组的讨论进度。但在老师Mrs. Anderson的帮助下我渐渐掌握了阅读技巧、抓住了核心内容也全面了解了作者的写作风格,最终完成了课题。当时我以为我的留美生活就会被埋没在一大堆读不完的书中,现在回过头来我才发现这个课题的完成是我在英语学习路上的一个重大突破。我特别感激当时Mrs. Anderson对我的鼓励,她说:“我知道这堂课的任务对你来说是很有难度的,但是我相信你很聪明,可以让我像要求美国学生一样要求你。”在她的鼓励和严格要求下,我先后读完了The Winter Walk、《追风筝的人》、Code TalkerVictim ProofThe Night Trilogy,并对我们正在进行的关于二战期间犹太人的大屠杀的课题有了信心。对于我来说,这是一次特别宝贵的经历和机会,因为之前在中国都没有那么多时间来读书,在体会名著的同时我也锻炼了我的英语阅读和写作能力,可谓是一举两得。

本来以为音乐课是相对来说比较轻松的一门课,其实也没那么简单。尽管是学习新乐器,在课上我们几乎都处于半自学状态。老师把识乐谱的方法和基础弹法交给我们,让我们上网搜索可以自己弹唱的歌曲并自主学习,最终在课上表演、进行学习成果展示。这完全是我意料之外的学习方法,但看着我的同学们都那么努力地练习,我也不甘示弱,在这样的学习氛围中、在他们的带动下开始努力地练习、认真完成每一次任务。

课后我加入了Channel Light Newspaper Club 和DDF(Drama, Debate and Forensics)。在Channel Light Newspaper Club 里,我第一次当小记者采访来校日本交换生和校队的摔跤选手,从采访、交流、记录到写稿,全部都由自己完成。刚开始我还特别紧张和不安,但在尝试多次与同学和老师交流后,我渐渐掌握与人交谈的技巧。在老师的耐心指导下,我也积累了不少写英文报导的经验。提起我在MEHS 里最开心的时光,这非DDF莫属了。在DDF里,我第一次尝试和好友Breezi排练双人表演、与Jaymes Kelly准备哑剧,还准备了关于中国筷文化的演讲。到现在为止,我已去了Haines、Wrangell、Ketchikan 等地参加比赛,并即将代表学校参加阿拉斯加州的决赛。我的关于中国筷文化的演讲受到一致好评,评委和同学们似乎都对筷子很感兴趣,在Ketchikan比赛时我的演讲还作为模范展示给所有人看呢。这让我既兴奋又紧张,看着台下的老师和同学们饶有兴趣地学习着中国文化,我也为我是一名中国交换生而感到自豪。我很珍惜每次活动的机会,同时我也很感谢老师们给予我的肯定和支持。

虽然中秋佳节没能和家人一起度过,在这边的我主动申请在中文课上做了个presentation,向同学介绍中国的节日,分享从中国带来的月饼,教他们说中文。在这天里,走到每个地方,几乎都有同学笑着跟我说“中秋节快乐”,这让我感到十分亲切和温暖。

总之,我很喜欢Mt. Edgecumbe高中带给我的感觉——既忙碌又不乏快乐的新鲜感。这将会成为我一生中最宝贵的经历之一。期待我之后七个多月的学习生活会更加精彩! 真的很感谢云大附中和MEHS给我这次机会。Go braves!

 

Time is slipping away without even being noticed! I can’t believe I’ve already been here at Mt. Edgecumbe High School for a semester.

My first impression of MEHS — friendliness and enthusiasm surrounds me the first day I came here, which totally drove away all my concerns and worries.

I really appreciate that I can select courses freely here. With the help of teachers, I finally chose Music1, content reading, chemistry and English1 in the first semester.

In chemistry classes, Mr. Mahoney usually gave each student a study guide and let us do experiments, record results, discuss and summarize as a group, which was very impressive and different from my chemistry classes in China. While cooperating with my group members, not only did we witness every slight change in the reactants, but, most essentially, we also built close friendships during the cooperation. I still remembered that time when I debated with my partner because of the different densities of hydrochloric acid and when we had chocolates and cookies as desserts while studying the Avogadro’s law.

However, my life here hasn’t always been easy. For me, my English class with Mrs. Anderson was the most intense class here, for in this class, in order to get a promising grade we need to finish reading a book, taking notes and writing an essay about a project in a month. I read a scientific book named The Hot Zone written byPreston Richard for my first research project which was about the discovery, researches and destructibility of Ebola virus. One absorbing thing was that Mrs. Anderson even dressed up as a doctor to teach us. Albeit my English class was a great fun, sometimes I found the onerous reading tasks still made me stressed out. I was always worried I couldn’t finish the chapters on time and I might pull myself behind in my group. It was with the help of Mrs. Anderson that I gradually mastered the skills of reading English literature, knew how to find the main idea and was familiar with the writing style of the author. At that time I thought it was the hardest time when I struggled most with English, but looking back it was one of the most amazing times I had in this first semester and that led to a great leap in my English study. I’m so thankful for the encouragement from my teacher. She said that she knew this was hard for me, as a foreign exchange student, but she still trusted me that I could do it, because she knew I was smart and I could handle the same things Americans felt hard to handle. Powered by her words and strict requirements, I’ve already finished reading The Winter Walk, Victim Proof, Code Talker, The Kite Runner and The Night Trilogy in one semester and writing an essay about the Ebola virus and an essay about the Holocaust during World War 2.  As for me, my experience here at MEHS was very precious, thus I surely need to cherish every opportunity to learn, read and have fun. While enjoying those undeniable masterpieces, I largely improved my English skills and broadened my perspective at the same time.

I used to think Music class should be the easiest class I had in this semester, it turned out it’s not. Mr. Coutright taught us how to read music notes and chords but left lots of time for us to learn by ourselves to perform in class in order to get credits. Everyone around me seemed pretty comfortable with this teaching method, so I can’t give up. Eventually I learned the guitar, the drum set and the flute, and I had great fun in class.

Besides classes, I joined Channel Light Newspaper Club and DDF (Drama, Debate and Forensics).  In Channel Light Newspaper Club, I interviewed the Japanese students and wrestlers, took photos and wrote reports about them. I was so confused at first, but owing to my teacher’s instruction and my effort, I gradually handled communication skills and learned how to write a report. My experience in DDF is considered a most amazing time I had in MEHS. I had a duet with my best friend Breezi, made a speech about the culture of Chinese chopsticks and a performed a pantomime with Jaymes Kelly. Up till now, I’ve been to the cities of Haines, Wrangell and Ketchikan for my DDF travel, and I’m going to the state contest representing our school. Worth mentioning also, I got a ‘commence’ (perform one more time to every judge and student) of my speech in Ketchikan; it turned out everyone enjoyed Chinese culture a lot, which really made me excited and nervous at the same time. I’m so proud of myself of being an exchange student in MEHS, and I cherished every opportunity here, meanwhile I was truly thankful of the instructions, encouragements and comments from my teachers.

Although I wasn’t able to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with my family this time, I gave a presentation in the Chinese class to introduce the Chinese festival, teach them how to speak Chinese and share with them the moon cakes I brought from China. That day, nearly every student I met smiled and said’ Happy Mid-Autumn Day’ to me, which really warmed my heart.

In general, I enjoyed my life here a lot, and I really appreciated that my school and MEHS gave me this precious opportunity to be here. I’m also looking forward to my next seven months. Should be more splendid! Go braves!

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供稿部门:国际部

撰稿人:2013级高二年级  杨婧琳

指导教师:毕劲梅