The Cupertino Courier
News
Halloween a treat for student visitors from Taiwan
By Crystal Lu
During a recent eight-day stay in Cupertino, 18 Taiwanese students got to participate in an American cultural tradition: Halloween.
The students, who spent Oct. 27 to Nov. 4 with host families, were the first group of exchange students from Taiwan since Cupertino officially became sister cities with Hsinchu in March.
"We send our students to Hsinchu during spring break, and receive students from Hsinchu in late October for them to get a Halloween experience," said Janice Sung, vice president of Cupertino-Hsinchu Sister City Association.
The student exchange program is in its fourth year. Its organizers have always been volunteers, even after the establishment of official relations between Cupertino and Hsinchu, a city often referred to as "Taiwan's Silicon Valley."
Councilman Orrin Mahoney said Cupertino handles sister city affairs differently than other American cities by relying on volunteers rather than paid staff. Another difference he sees is that the exchange between Cupertino and Hsinchu is mostly education-oriented rather than business-based.
Mayor Kris Wang, at a luncheon Oct. 30, thanked the Cupertino Union School District and the Fremont Union High School District for their contribution to the student exchange program.
Four of the exchange students were ninth-graders. One was sent to Monta Vista High School, another to Homestead
High School, and the other two to Cupertino High School.
The other 14 exchange students were seventh- and eighth-graders. They went to classes at Lawson Middle School, which has a program called Where Everyone Belongs (WEB) that pairs a student leader with a newcomer.
"All we did was get the exchange students together with the WEB kids," said Karl Sonntag, principal of Lawson Middle School.
The WEB program had each exchange student shadow a WEB leader all day in school.
Calvin Lam, a WEB leader who speaks a little Mandarin, said he learned from exchange student Bill Tsai that more advanced science is taught to eighth-graders in Taiwan than in the U.S.
"It's cool to show other people how you go to school and learn about where they're coming from," said Sindhu Gnanasambandan, another WEB leader.
The exchange students all agreed that going to an American school and staying with host families helped them communicate a little better in English, which they've studied as a second language in Taiwan.
The Taiwanese students also pointed out several differences between middle schools in Cupertino and Hsinchu.
Natalie Kuo liked being able to wear earrings here. Middle school girls in Taiwan cannot wear accessories and must wear uniforms.
Leo Lin said he was not used to running between classrooms here because students usually stay in the same classroom except for PE or lab in Taiwan.
In terms of cultural experience, the exchange students raved about the Halloween they had spent with their host families.
Ken Tung was beaming while talking about entering a "haunted house" in his host family's neighborhood.
Another experience that the exchange students called "unforgettable" was pizza making in a cooking class. Pizza is popular in Taiwan but not as a school cafeteria item.
"I'm so excited," said Jenny Su when she was getting ready to make pizza dough. "This is wonderful!"
