Eighteen students from Terry High School and George Ranch High School traveled 8,050 miles to Foshan, China for a foreign exchange program. The students left for their 16 hour flight to Foshan on December 31st, with a return on January 14th. They were visiting our sister school.

Ally Walters stated, “The school life in Foshan is quite different than GR. First off, you stay at the school all week and only go home to your family on the weekends. Secondly, school isn’t over until 10 p.m., and there are breaks throughout the day, such as a designated nap time, but staying in school that late is very different.”

Each American student was assigned to a student that attended Foshan No. 3, and he or she would practically never leave the Foshan student’s, or their host’s, side. The George Ranch and Terry students would shadow their host’s throughout the school day and stay with them at night, since the school is also a boarding school. During the weekend, they’d stay at their host’s house.

“I liked meeting the Foshan students and creating relationships with them. Hopefully we will be able to keep the communication going throughout the years in order to stay friends,” Ally Walters said.

They stayed at Foshan No. 3 for about a week, then they flew to Beijing and later Hong Kong. They got to visit famous landmarks like The Great Wall of China. The George Ranch and Terry students were able to experience a totally different culture from the American culture, including food, hobbies, clothing, and education.

Camille Paschal stated, “It was different [from the United States] because the food was made homestyle, the people spoke a different language, and the toilets were strange.”