life
FEATURE
Teachers learn cultural lesson
Isle of Wight schools are part of a national movement to hook up with schools in
China. A delegation of heads and deputy-heads recently took part in an exchange
with their counterparts – and it was quite an education, says Roz Whistance
THE first lesson the teachers learned was
that you don’t joke with customs officials.
They were on the first leg of their journey
to Beijing, and customs were particularly
interested in one of the gifts they were
bringing for their Chinese hosts – some of
Alum Bay’s famous coloured sand.
“That’s just my marijuana supply,”
quipped one of the teachers. It caused
a scary few minutes. But eventually the
party were allowed to go on their way,
without being strip-searched.
Of course Island teachers can be forgiven
for not knowing that customs officials
have their sense of humour gene surgically
removed when appointed for the job. The
chaps on Wight Link and Red Funnel are
pretty friendly and don’t try to confiscate
your sand, after all. But it was the first
example of many new experiences.
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Article by Roz Whistance
The 10 teachers from the Isle of Wight
were part of a national party of 111 from
11 local authorities. They flew to Beijing
en masse, then each delegate was to spend
time in their own appointed school in
various parts of China. The Chinese were
then to make a return visit.
The teachers had luxuries heaped upon
them from the minute they touched down.
The organisation which had set the whole
thing in motion was called Hanban, the
Chinese government agency responsible
for promoting Chinese study overseas,
and the aim is for each school to develop
a link with a partner school in China to
help them to study the Chinese language
and culture.
If this was about world domination, the
Chinese hosts were going the right way
about it. The five-day visit was punctuated
with ever more lavish banquets, with
incomparable entertainment by students.
The accommodation was luxurious: one
hotel was not considered sufficiently
comfortable and the party were quickly
whisked off to another. “It had been
fine!” said Beryl Miller, head teacher of
Yarmouth Primary.
When the Chinese party came to the
Island, about a week after the Islanders
returned, they may not have attended huge
banquets or been welcomed with such
formal cere mony – but they were treated
to two formal dinners, one at Osborne
House, and were taken by local dignitaries
to places of interest. Mrs Miller’s Chinese
host cum guest, Zhang Guangqiong, was
taken by Howard Lester, the Lifeboat
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