Blair hosted Chinese pickleball students to promote international exchanges and an understanding of different cultures.
Editor’s Note: Interviews with Li Chengcheng and Feng Hanxiao were conducted in a bilingual manner, and the interview with Yan Yanqiu was conducted in Mandarin. Translations from Mandarin to English were checked by Yihui Dong.
On Thursday, Feb. 5, Blair’s media center looked a little bit different. Instead of students quietly studying and socializing, it was decorated to the brim with platters of food, and information brochures on each adorned table. Outside, Blair’s cheer team, pep band, and student leaders all eagerly waited for a black charter bus to turn left from University Boulevard.
This was all in preparation to welcome Chinese students as part of a student exchange program promoting pickleball diplomacy. As the second segment of the pickleball diplomacy program, Chinese students travelled across MCPS schools to perform a cultural exchange, allowing all students to gain an understanding of a different culture and get to know high school students from different backgrounds.
Event
One of the Chinese students stepped off the bus and entered the library; they were in awe. For them, being able to go on this journey was a special opportunity to experience a completely different culture and lifestyle. “As a Chinese student, [when] I go to America, [I] can get a totally different culture and I can know the local culture, and maybe improve myself,” student 李程程 (Li Chengcheng) states.
Although these Chinese students had already seen iconic cities, including Manhattan and Philadelphia, they were still excited to visit Blair, often comparing it to high schools portrayed in American entertainment. “I loved watching these American films and TV programs, and it was always like this. This community is more like one in the movies,” student 冯翰骁 (Feng Hanxiao) says.
Blair admin and the Chinese delegation exchange gifts Photo courtesy of Owen Yessis.
One of the most exciting portions of the visit was the performances in the auditorium, which included several student clubs, such as a teaser of Sankofa and a performance by the Poms team. This allowed many students to showcase their talents and the unique identity of Blair on stage. “It’s just a great representation of who we are and what we do and our culture,” principal Damon Monteleone says. With Blair’s diverse student body, the showcase of several talented students gave different parts of Blair to display their voices.
This was the case for senior cheer captain Tokyo Hopkins, who was able to use experience throughout fall and winter to execute a performance with limited time to prepare. “We have pretty extensive practices in the fall, where we have our competition season, … but during the winter we take the time to refine our cheers, so this would be the perfect time for us to work on performances that we’re gonna have today, for example,” she states. “So, we use the experience from both fall and winter to show up to things like this event today.”
Connections
Through this experience, many Chinese students were able to talk to and connect with students from Blair, but also meet old friends from the MCPS’ pickleball cultural exchange to China last year.
“[I got to meet] some old friends we’ve made previously, and it’s amazing,” 冯翰骁 (Feng Hanxiao) says.
One of the easiest ways to make friends is through a common interest. By giving students the opportunity to use pickleball as an opening topic, it is much easier for them to have a conversation and make connections. “I love making friends, and [in China] pickleball is now very popular,” 李程程 (Li Chengcheng) states. Using a sport that is popular in two countries as a door to making relationships can increase diplomacy and understanding between two completely different cultures.
Blazers greet the visiting Chinese students as they tour Blair Photo courtesy of Owen Yessis.
Cultural exchanges are not just a one-sided window, though. Both parties of an exchange, including the host, can gain something from the interaction. “I love seeing programs like these,” Hopkins states. “You can just learn so much from other people, and people coming from Blair, they can teach just people just as much as they can learn, and I think that’s very important.”
Preparations
Several county and school officials made efforts to make the cultural exchange happen, including Jeffrey Sullivan, who kicked off the inaugural pickleball diplomacy program with China. When pickleball was first introduced as a sport in MCPS, nearby Chinese diplomats got in contact with MCPS and were able to establish a connection to eventually initiate this program. This model was heavily inspired by the Ping Pong Diplomacy program created during the Nixon administration to establish a relationship with China in the 1970s.
Instead of ping pong, however, pickleball is a trending sport that is now being popularized across the globe and can be used as a stepping stone for new relationships. 匹克球是一项运动，把我们遥远两地的学校和很多师生连接起来，(Pickleball is a type of sport that has connected two faraway schools as well as their students and teachers)” she says. ”我觉得这是非常有意义的事情。。。他们能够建立互相了解，建立友谊 (I feel like this has significant meaning… they can develop understanding and friendships).”
The Chinese students listen attentively to a presentation from Principal Monteleone Photo courtesy of Owen Yessis.
When Monteleone got the call that Blair would be the first MCPS school that the Chinese students would visit, he was able to assemble a team that worked to create a plan. “This school has amazing staff, and amazing adults that work in it,” Monteleone says. “All these people came together… and everybody kind of chipped in. We had a show planned. We had some meetings. We had some action items we followed up on, and here we are.”
The preparations and hard work by the teachers and staff did not go unnoticed, as the Chinese students and adults felt like they were warmly embraced into the school. “到这里来了以后，我们一下子看到你们学校在门口为我们举行了这么热烈的欢迎仪式，我们非常感动，仿佛我们回到了一个熟悉的朋友的家里一样” (When we came [to Blair] and all of a sudden saw how the school prepared such an exciting welcome for us, we were very moved and felt like we had returned to an old friend’s home), 颜艳秋 (Yan Yanqiu), the vice chairman of the Shanghai Magnolia Foundation for International Exchange, says.
Future
In the future, students and adults all hope to expand this program, allowing students to have a new respect for different people and different places as well as expanding their horizons and worldview. “It’s definitely a world with different cultures, so for young people if they can touch or experience a different culture… in the future they can get more advantages,” 李程程 (Li Chengcheng) explains.
High school cultural exchanges are an opportunity for all students involved, as they get to learn about a different part of the world and make lasting memories. “We may live on the other side of the planet. [We] may not speak the same exact language. We may have different cultures, but there are certain transnational cultural elements I believe to teenagers, and I think it’s always wonderful for kids to see other kids [and] be able to make those connections,” Monteleone says.
Joyce Fang. Staff writer More »
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