The Duckling Project

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I recently had dinner with 15 high school students from China at a well-known Minneapolis eatery called the Old Spaghetti Factory. As we were leaving, a table of six stopped me to inquire if they were all mine. They were joking, but in a funny way, the sentiment rang true.

The students arrived on the rather ominous date of Friday, July 13th. They were going to be participating in the pilot year of a four-week leadership training program that I had spent April through July creating and scheduling. If the program were deemed a success, it had the potential to become an annual thing that would include prospective students from countries all over the world. So, no pressure.

While designing the program curriculum, I took many factors into account: the importance of finding dedicated, competent core teachers for the English writing and speaking classes held four hours each morning; teaching the students such presentation skills as voice projection, body language, and eye contact; incorporating fun, culturally immersive activities into the highly academic schedule. Yet there remained a plethora of unknowns--the students' English proficiency levels, their ability to quickly grasp new concepts, their level of interest in the activity at hand, whether they were truly interested in participating in the program, or whether they were being forced to attend by their overzealous parents. With quite a few blanks yet to be filled in, I created a program schedule I believed to be both challenging and stimulating. Mindful that about half of the students had been abroad before, I attempted to instate both familiar and foreign experiences in the mix.

The ducklings arrived on an American Airlines flight at 10:30 AM on July 13th. My gentle ribbing about the auspicious date was either lost in translation or went right over their jet-lagged young heads. In fact, the entire first weekend was spent in a furious attempt to keep everyone awake as we shuffled between downtown Minneapolis, the State Capital building in St. Paul, and the Science Museum of Minnesota. By 8:00 AM on Monday morning, however, all 15 ducklings were bright-eyed and bushy-beaked in anticipation of their first academic writing class.

The writing instructor was an easygoing throwback to the 1950s, complete with doo-wop floppy hair and horn-rimmed glasses. He laughed easily and often, which was a terrific introduction to the friendly, fun-loving nature of American culture. The speaking instructor was quiter and more gentle-natured; his experience living in China was helpful when empathizing with the ducklings as they settled into their new pond.

The American classroom can be noisy, boisterous, and full of interactive learning. In stark contrast, the Chinese classroom is quiet, apart from the lone teacher lecturering for hours to a class of 50+ students. Moving from the Chinese to American learning environment can be difficult for Chinese students with no prior knowledge or experience in the American education system.

The first week of classes was challenging for both students and teachers. The students, not feeling that the classes were sufficiently difficult, became quiet and unresponsive when asked questions. In return, the teachers interpreted the students' silence as not understanding the material, which prompted them to further slow down and simplify their language and speech. Even after four years immersed in Chinese culture, I found I still had some important things to learn. Luckily, the issue became apparent mid-week and I was able to speak to both students and teachers to remedy the situation to the satisfaction of all involved.

I'd planned an ambitious first day of academia for the ducklings. Apart from the four hours of class in the morning, there was the potential for a campus-wide scavenger hunt, a tour of the university's plenteous libraries, and a late afternoon astronomy presentation. What I hadn't anticipated were the record-breaking high temperature and humidity levels. The local weather guessers were advising the community to stay inside air-conditioned buildings--and so we did. Goodbye, scavenger hunt; hello, naptime. The ducklings didn't protest in the slightest.

The following day was just as hot, but the humidty had dropped just enough to allow us to participate in a very special component of the program: service learning. We would be working with a local nonpfort organization called Friends of the Mississippi River to spray paint warnings near storm drains in a St. Paul neighborhood. The designs reminded the public that anything thrown down the drains went straight to the river. I wasn't sure what the ducklings would think of the project, but they took to it like...well, like ducks to water (though I suspect the thrill of spray painting on the street had something to do with it).

Our first adventure off campus took place that Friday. Located three hours north of the Twin Cities, the University of Minnesota-Duluth provided the perfect opportunity for the ducklings to check out another college campus. I shouldn't have been surprised to see that the ducklings loved Lake Superior. After all, it was the largest body of water we'd seen since their arrival. They happily spent a good portion of the afternoon learning how to skip stones across the water.

The first weekend after classes began was intense. We visited the Mille Lacs American Indian reservation, home to the Ojibwe tribe, where we learned that reservations in the US are sovereign nations with their own laws, government, and legal repercussions. I was bemused to note that I didn't recall learning much about the plight of American Indian tribes in school; apparently, China is not the only country tweaking history in its academic textbooks.

One of the primary focuses of the ducklings' summer program was to teach them how to effectively give a presentation, a skill vitally important in the American classroom and completely foreign to the ducklings. I wanted to get an idea of their innate presentation skills, and so assigned them the task of preparing presentations about China for their second service learning opportunity, which took place at Ebenezer Retirement Community. I was so proud of them that day. They really put their all into preparing and delivering the first presentation they'd ever created--in a foreign language, no less. Some of the residents were hard of hearing or in various state of confusion; this type of situation can be overwhelming for anyone, but the ducklings handled it with the utmost grace.

The second week of the program was chock full of the arts. The week kicked off with a cupcake decorating workshop, during which the ducklings went wild. The instructor was bubbly and enthusiastic; her enthusiasm was contagious. I had to hide my smile as the ducklings literally oohed and aahed in unison as the instructor demonstrated various frosting techniques. Even the three boys in the program had fun squirting icing onto the baked goods and dousing them with sprinkles.

Later that week, I took the ducklings to see their first live action dramatic performance at the Guthrie Theater in downtown Minneapolis, 'Roman Holiday.' As with many of the activities over the course of the month, it was my first visit to the Guthrie, too. It had been years since I'd seen live theater, and the cast of 'Roman Holiday' didn't disappoint. Many of the ducklings were familiar with the Audrey Hepbern film (old American black-and-white movies are surprisingly popular in China), but struggled to follow the rapid-fire dialogue on stage without subtitles. As a result, when I glanced behind me at the close of Act I, about half of the ducklings were nestled into the shoulder of their neighbor, fast asleep. This was another lesson learned: keep the ducklings in physical motion at 1:00 PM. I'd been aware of the Spanish siesta, but had been clueless about the Chinese catnap.

That Saturday, I introduced the ducklings to one of the more refined activities in Minnesota: miniature golf. When the bus pulled up to the course, I was dismayed to see how tiny it looked in comparison to the photos on the website. I needn't have worried. As soon as the ducklings got their hands on a club and a golf ball, they were off. I especially enjoyed watching several of them work together to rescue errant golf balls that had been hit into the water. Although golf is becoming a popular weekend activity for the rich and fabulous in China, this was the very first opportunity that many of the ducklings had had to take a shot (pun intended) at this very American pasttime.

The final two weeks of the program were quite academic in nature. The ducklings were able to visit five colleges and universities in the vicinity of the Twin Cities, including St. Olaf College and Carleton College in Northfield and the University of Minnesota in Duluth. As a special treat, the ducklings were invited to the home of one of their instructors; they were able to experience firsthand an authentic American household in action. I also invited them to visit my apartment in downtown Minneapolis; it was quite humorous to see all 15 ducklings trouping into my corner apartment and sprawling out on the sofa, chairs, and floor. They were quite tickled to see and hear my grand piano, though none were brave enough to play anything in front of the others. Instead, I took classical requests from the group. Ah, what fun to play for people again!

Before the program commencement, I had plenteous concerns and fears about how the program would go, whether there would be anything I couldn't handle, and if the ducklings would like me. Our bond was formed the second week of the program, when I revealed to them that they had been affectionately dubbed my 'ducklings' around the office. At first they resisted, protesting that they were not babies requiring constant supervision. Soon enough, though, they began referring to themselves as my ducklings and to me as the 'duckling mother.' They did draw the line at counting off for excursions by saying 'quack-one, quack-two.' I guess everyone has their limits of tolerance.

Since the conclusion of the program and the ducklings' subsequent return to China, I've received a few emails from them expressing how much fun they had in Minnesota and how much they miss me. I certainly return the sentiment; the first couple of weeks after their departure seemed a bit devoid of je ne sais quoi. It was an unbelievable experience for me, one that is sure to be repeated the summer of 2013, and something I will remember for the rest of my life. I hope that this introduction to the American higher education system planted seeds of curiousity and excitement in the minds of my ducklings, and that I will see them happily swimming in the big Minnesotan pond again soon.

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Photos

Ducklings Doing Community Service
Working with the Friends of the Mississippi River to spray paint warnings near storm drains in a Como Park neighborhood

Ducklings with Completed Beadwork
Mille Lacs American Indian Reservation

Ducklings in Debate Class
Topics: Gay Marriage and Abortion

Comments

[Home and Away]

What an interesting blog...
this wasn't about you traveling, but about 15 Chinese students experiencing Minnesota. I hope that the program continues.