Dear Parents of APSA Scholars:

We are coming to the end of what from our perspective has been a fantastic summer. From what we have seen of your children here, they seem to share the view that it’s been a great few weeks. I know they are excited to be heading home to see you all soon, but some perhaps are sad to say good bye to China and their new friends here. We hope in the next few days when you see your children again, you will see the personal growth and maturity that we have seen them all develop over the last few weeks.

As we get ready to send everyone home, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your trust in us sending your children so far from home and for everything you have already done to make them the young adults we welcomed here who were ready to challenge themselves with new experiences and embrace their time in China. As we said to the students at the beginning of the summer, each was selected because of a “spark” that said they were ready for this experience, and they have done everything to make the most of their time here. So thank you.

The experience that your children had here in China has been our primary focus for many months, but their experience here is also part of something bigger. With the 32 students who came to China this summer, APSA has now brought a total of 100 students to China on full scholarship since 2008. As we continue to grow, we hope that our alumni network is also a support network for your children as they continue to explore international opportunities.

Some of our alumni from previous years are already showing the way for this year’s group about how to continue their study of Chinese and international exploration. Three of our alumni have been in various summer language programs in Beijing this summer. Another is on an internship in Hong Kong. A student from 2009 just finished a year of study in Beijing, and another is now enrolled in a Chinese university. Your children have already met some of these alumni, and we hope that they will stay connected with us and with the other alums as we grow together.

This summer is part of something larger in another way as well. Since we started APSA, we have always aimed to design our program in a way that would have a positive impact on the students who participated and also the larger community. We hoped to set an example for what is possible in international education and to bring new resources into public schools. In the past, we have sought to deliver on these larger goals by helping our students to testify to local school boards or speak publicly about their experience.

This past week we made an exciting step forward in this larger effort. Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas and Secretary of State Clinton met to highlight the importance of having more Americans study in China. Will.i.am has agreed to direct a concert in Beijing that we at APSA are organizing to highlight the importance of educational and cultural ties between the United States and China. (You can see the State Department press release below.) This is a giant step for us and will help us expand our activities and support more opportunities for students like your children to come to China. We will keep you posted on our progress, and please check our web site for new updates.

As we embark on this growth, we will need help in many ways. Your words, actions, and donations can help us achieve our goals together. Please tell us about your child’s experience. As we reach out to new supporters, nothing is more convincing about the power of study abroad than the words of the students and parents who have been part of the program. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us. We will have new things happening in many of the cities we work with, and we can always use help. And finally, if you are interested in supporting this effort financially, donations in any amount make a huge difference.

Thank you for everything you have already done. We look forward to staying in touch with your children and all of you.

Best regards,

Ted Dean, Michael Dardzinski, Paula Koda, and Ada Shen
Americans Promoting Study Abroad, Board of Directors

To contact us email, alumniparents@apsaglobal.org

To follow us on twitter or donate, visit our web site www.apsaglobal.org.

Continue reading →

We spent our last weekend at The Special Commune, a center/farm/community which focuses on accepting intellectually challenged people, and teaching them skills they can use in the real world to find steady pay and lead a successful life. Self-sufficiency was a keyword this weekend. From eating food we picked the day before, to taking a friendly visit to the eco-toilets, I felt stronger, sustainable, and proud. We started our day of arrival by heading to the cornfields, and picking weeds, which had grown huge from the recent rainfall. Later in the evening we watched the staff perform a variety of dances and songs. The APSA Scholars were allowed to perform as well, and many of us sand, danced, or rap-battled (I won in the latter category).

The following day for me began with picking weeds. Then breakfast. Then more weeding. Then lunch, then carrying weeds to a compost spot. But I was proud and glad, albeit tired and hungry, to be doing what I was doing. The many scrapes and scratches on our arms and legs are, as Wen said, “the scars of battle.”

We had dinner that evening on a field in between crops. Another group had helped prepare dinner, which was great. Again, our savvy staff performed more dances, one of which other APSA Scholars had taught them during the day. The evening held more dancing and singing. I slept really well that night, dirtier than my mom would probably find acceptable. But hey, scars of battle.

This morning we spent talking a little bit about community, and what it means to us. The city groups all got together and talked about their various communities. Later, each city got to paint a mural on one of the Commune buildings. The D.C. kids painted a yin-yang circle with the U.S. flag on one side, China flag on the other, and the D.C. flag as the dots. After, we all ate lunch together and left.

On the ride back, I realized how fast the weekend went by. Then I realized how fast the week before had gone by. I realized how fast the week before had gone by. I realized how fast the five weeks before had gone by. Then I checked the date.

“Holycrapitsaugust”

It’s hard for me to tell which fact is harder to comprehend; that we’ve been here for five weeks, or that we’re leaving in four days. Both seem equally outlandish; I feel like this dorm is my home, but at the same time I feel like I only just got here; all these people are my close friends, but weren’t we strangers a month ago? It makes me realize how much we’ve grown and experienced the past month, as a community. It makes me realize how much

Tomorrow is the second, then the third, then the fourth, then the fifth, and I’m home. But I guess it’s First Home, because I’ve leaving Home on the fifth too. I’ll miss my family here.

I’ll miss everybody when I’ve gone, and how glad I’ll be to be home; how much I’ll miss the Chinese women at the front desk (a.k.a. our best friends) and how glad I’ll be to order a Big Mac and McFlurry tomorrow.

Teddy Rycroft

8/1/11

APSA Scholar

D.C. Represent

We’ve posted lots of new content from the Scholars today, and it turns out that there are too many new blog entries to fit on one page! For your convenience, you can use the following “Table of Contents” to navigate directly to the posts you want to read. Enjoy!

Day 32: Good Morning Beijing by Connie

Day 32: The First Ending by Arjun

Day 32: Almost time to leave by Elena

Day 32: The Countdown Begins by Chanel

Day 32: The Combination of Relaxation and the Opposite by Lisa

Day 35: Monday!! by Miriam

Day 35: The Last Week by Laura

Day 35: My China Stories by Mirtangelis

Day 35: Special Commune by April

Day 35: The Forbidden Kingdom by Patrick

Day 35: Not So Different by LeEllen

Day 37: Final Weekend by Jazmine

Day 37: In the End by Bulmaro

Day 38: Final Blog by Kynedi

Day 38: Shopping in Beijing Day 1 by Cindy

Day 38: Riding a Three-Person Bike by Aaron

Day 38: Whole Day of Shopping! by Fiona

Day 38: Silk Market, Sanlitun, and Yashou Market by Liz

Day 38: Holycrapitsaugust by Teddy

Today was our first day where we had to go out into the world of bargaining and I can say it went pretty well, but my first experience was not the best. At the first shop that a teammate and I went into we were insulted a little but in the end we got a good deal. As we made our way through the shops we became better at the game of bargaining, and at least  three shop owners offered us a cheaper price because we spoke Chinese to them. This is when I realized that Chinese citizens have much more respect towards foreigners who speak their language then to those who don’t. This motivated me to keep speaking Chinese and only use English when I was totally lost. Overall it was an awesome day filled with new learning skills.

Today was so much fun. I went to the silk market and bought a lot of stuff. I bargained really well. At least, I think I bargained really well ^_^. I spent about 350 RMB which is about 50 USD. Compared to other people I didn’t spend that much money today. Some people went over 1000 RMB, that’s crazy. The silk market was huge! We had a lot of time to shop too. I really liked today because APSA gave us a lot of freedom. They even allowed us to eat American fast food for lunch so I ate McDonalds today! We were free to go anywhere without a facilitator, but we had to have at least one buddy with us. My bargaining skills definitely improved! I was even helping my friends bargain. I know the best techniques. Tomorrow I’m going to the Zoo market and I can’t wait!!! I want to get cheap dresses! The sellers are annoying sometimes though, like if you don’t like the price they offer. They usually start off really high for their items. I talked down a 680 RMB hoodie to 85 RMB, and I’m obsessed with that hoodie! I was so proud. (:

Fiona Jung

New York

APSA Scholar

So today I went Hohai and it was so gnarly.  The best part is that my group only had 4 people which were Bu, Zeek, Onaje, and me. Our facilitator was Jess and we did more that we thought we were going to do. As soon as we got to Hohai we went shopping to practice our bargaining skills. The moral of the story is that we tried a lot of things like ridding a 3 person bicycle and asking girls to practice so when we get back to America we can be pros.

We’ll will be back home in a couple of days, I’ll be more sad than happy. I really love Beijing and I hope to someday live here and start a punk revolution.. well maybe someday I shall change the world. Hopefully in a positive way. It’s hard for me to believe that I’m leaving so soon, like I mean, I got so attached to everyone, my friends, my facilitators, it just sucks. Well. we live in a small world, I hope that someday we can all be together again. Later people.

As the countdown for the departure date continues, I realized that I have grown so much due to the APSA  program. The program proved to be very rigorous and at times exhausting; however my summer was well spent. Learning about myself was a worthwhile experience, but learning about myself in China is a once in a lifetime experience.

Kynedi Hadley
Atlanta, Georgia
APSA Scholar

Hello. The APSA scholars came back today after a weekend in a place called the Special Commune. Supporting the disable was a huge challenge, but after all we had the sense of accomplishment. After experiencing the JUMP experience (HA.), I can say that I have changed. Hopefully, my city group can present the best feedback of the trip when we get home. In the end, I wish everyone luck and encourage everyone to try something new.

Bu. E.
August 1, 2011
Atlanta

Today we ended our weekend at Special Commune. Our experience for the day was painting murals with our city. I enjoyed myself. Our painting was China Olympics Bird Nest and Rochester Skyline connecting together by a shake of hands. We worked on a good activity that I believed that open me up, trying to figure out who our role models are. I figured out that I have had plenty of role models but I remain with the same one even when age change and that’s my parents and my grandmother. We talked about our roles in our community and why they are important. We learned how we impact our community in both positive and negative ways. We worked on our China Tomorrow project to present to the board Wednesday. I’m going to miss weekend activities, but this was a good way to end the trip.

Rochester, NY
Jazmen Calhoun
APSA Scholar