In mid-October, all of The Harker School’s grade 8 students learning Japanese became TV show hosts, celebrities, models and bodyguards right in their own classrooms.
Kumi Matsui, who teaches Japanese at the middle school, developed the Supermodel Project as a way for her students to learn how to describe physical characteristics and fashion in Japanese. Students pair up in groups of two to create a TV show in Japanese, with one student acting as the show’s host, and another student acting as a celebrity. Matsui says groups have even asked a few classmates to “take a role as an extra, such as crazy fans or bodyguards.” The rest of the class serves as the audience.
As far as celebrities go, Matsui says it’s up to the students to decide what kind of famous star they want to become, and “we’ve had an actress, actor, fashion models, tennis player and world famous criminal.” Each celebrity is able to choose his or her own outfit to wear on the show.
The students must take on the role of both TV show host and celebrity with different partners, giving them two chances to come up with TV show ideas, put together crazy outfits, and perform for their classmates.
Matsui says her original inspiration for the project was, in part, the Harker Fashion Show. By combining it with a Japanese TV show, the students got a chance to learn and practice new fashion-related vocabulary, not to mention come up with some fun ways to express themselves.
“Some of the students were so creative, and created very interesting and funny shows!” Matsui said.
This article was originally published in the Fall 2011 Harker Quarterly.
Harker’s Latin program is going strong, and students have an annual event at which to showcase their knowledge in the National Junior Classical League Convention.
In July, Harker students, along with John Hawley and Lisa Masoni, upper and middle school Latin teachers, traveled to Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Ky., for this year’s convention. The convention is attended by more than 1,000 students every year who compete in multiple academic and creative arts contests, and several Harker students had top 10 placements in multiple categories.
Nik Datuashvili, grade 11, took second place in four categories: ancient geography IV, Greek derivatives, Latin derivatives and reading comprehension. He also earned fourth place in academic heptathlon and eighth place in Latin grammar advanced, Latin vocabulary IV and Certamen advanced level.
Meawhile, junior Richard Fan took eighth in Hellenic history IV, ninth in Greek derivatives IV and Roman history IV and eighth in Certamen advanced.
Sean Fernandes, grade 11, reached ninth place in ancient geography and 10th in reading comprehension prose level IV.
Finishing fifth in girls dramatic interpretation and Latin oratory III was Zina Jawadi, grade 10, who also took sixth place in girls Latin prose.
Grade 12 student Jessica Lin took first place in Roman life V+ and 10th in the grade 11 girls essay category.
Finally, junior Sean Nierat earned fourth place in grade 10 traditional photography.
Shanghai’s World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS) teacher Katie Qiqing visited Harker in late September and early October as this year’s exchange teacher from China. During the first week of her stay, Qiqing, who teaches grade 7 English at WFLMS, observed several classes, including Karina Momary’s middle school debate class, a class on Shakespeare comedies taught by Marc Hufnagl and grade 4 advanced core English with Nancy Tomlitz.
Qiqing noted that students at Harker are encouraged to use their creativity and, “to ask different kinds of questions related to the topic. And, moreover, their curiosity is greatly appreciated.”
As is customary for exchange teachers, Qiqing also taught several classes during her stay. At the upper school, she taught four different levels of Mandarin, while at the middle school she taught Mandarin, Chinese culture, Chinese school life and the history of Shanghai. At the lower school, she taught a class on Chinese culture.
During the first weekend in October, Qiqing visited the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium and went sightseeing around San Francisco.
“The teachers here are quite nice and hospitable,” she said. “To tell the truth, they are much busier than I thought.” She added that Harker’s students are “well-behaved,” and that some students demonstrated exceptional skill with the Chinese language. “They know a lot about China and Chinese, which made me so happy and excited,” she concluded.
In the spring, dozens of upper school foreign language students were recognized for their high achievements by being inducted to the national honor societies for the respective languages they studied.
Inductees to the French National Honor Society were: Jennifer Dai ’11; Josh Batra, Rohith Bhethanabotla, Shivani Chandrashekaran, Stephanie Chen, Katie Gu, Angela Ma, Patricia Allison Sun, Claudia Tischler and Justin Young, all grade 10; Drew Goldstein, Cecilia Lang-Ree, Victoria Lin, Rebecca Liu Huang, Dorsa Massihpour and Warren Zhang, all grade 11; and grade 12 students Rohit Sanbhadti and Angela Singh.
Japanese National Honor Society inductees were: Killian Burke, Jeffrey Hanke, Kimberly Ma, Vikram Naidu, Daniel Pak and Brandon Yang, grade 10; Crystal Chen and Shilpa Nataraj, grade 12; and Aileen Wen ’11.
Students inducted to the Spanish National Honor Society were: Kevin Moss and Vikram Sundar, grade 10; Neeraj Baid, Rohan Chandra, Madeleine Dawson, Molly Ellenberg, Amy Gendotti, Neel Jani, Nayeon Kim, Joy Li, Sumit Minocha, Payal Modi, Nikhil Panu, Shelby Rorabaugh, Alison Rugar, Nina Sabharwal, Maya Sathaye, Pooja Shah, Wendy Shwe and Sarina Vij, grade 11; Sanjana Baldwa, Kirsten Herr, Cole Manaster, Maverick McNealy, Max Quertermous, grade 12; and Nikunj Donde ’11.
Inductees to the National Latin Honor Society were: Sarika Bajaj, Nikhil Dilip, Kevin Duraiswamy, Urvi Gupta, Helena Huang, Saachi Jain, Zina Jawadi, Connie Li, Emily Lin, Mary Liu, Sreyas Misra, Suchita Nety, Brian Tuan, Andrew Wang and Sean Youn, grade 10; Erik Anderson, Nisha Bhikha, Jenny Chen, Jonathan Cho, Nik Datuashvili, Rahul Desirazu, Richard Fan, Akarsha Gulukota, Andrew Luo, Ramakrishnan Menon, Daphne Millard, Sean Nierat, Laura Pedrotti, Sahithya Prakash, Anuj Sharma, Pranav Sharma, Shannon Su, Ashvin Swaminathan, Ravi Tadinada and Molly Wolfe, grade 11; Eric Henshall, Alex Hsu, Vivian Li, Jessica Lin and Samantha Walker, grade 12; and Justine Liu ’11.
In late July, as the summer break began to wind down, middle school Spanish students, chaperoned by Spanish teachers Julie Pinzás and Susan Moling, took a trip to Costa Rica that extended into mid-August.
The students arrived in the Costa Rican capital city of San José on July 31, and were soon taken to the town of Grecia, where they ate at a restaurant tucked away in a bamboo forest in the mountains. “The open-air restaurant served us a delicious classic Costa Rican dish called ‘casado’ which literally means ‘married’ since the locals always eat rice and black beans together,” Pinzás wrote in one of several email dispatches.
Afterwards, they got settled into their living quarters for some rest. Students passed time chatting, playing volleyball and hanging out in a nearby courtyard and garden. “Beautiful exotic butterflies could be seen everywhere,” Pinzás said.
The group then ventured out to explore a local grocery store, and enjoyed dinner before heading back to their “casitas” (little houses) for the night.
The next day, the group headed to San Luis for an exciting day of zip lining through the lush treetops. “Mid-way through we tried the Tarzan swing, and then ended our tour using the new ‘Superman’ harness in which you lay face down overlooking the canyon for nearly a mile,” Pinzás wrote. “It was a blast! A definite highlight of the trip.” The day was capped off with some sampling of Costa Rican ice cream.
The day after their zip lining adventure, the students began their first day of classes at the Academia Centroamericana de Español (ACCE), known in English as the Central American Spanish Academy. Students took a diagnostic test and were placed in small groups of three to four students per teacher. “As usual, they impressed the director and their Costa Rican teachers with their Spanish!” Pinzás said. The students also experienced their first Costa Rican thunderstorm during their classes. “They were fascinated by the intensity of the lightning, thunder and downpour,” Pinzás wrote. “The powerful thunder was truly startling at times!”
That night, the students ate fajitas and enjoyed a viewing of Disney’s “Gnomeo and Juliet,” which was shown in Spanish, of course!
On Aug. 2, the students and chaperones rose early to partake in the celebration of Costa Rica’s last patron saint, La Virgen de Los Angeles (la Negrita), also known as the “black virgin.” Local legend says that in 1635, a young girl discovered a small, black doll in the image of the Virgin Mary on top of a stone in the forest, and took it home with her. When the doll went missing the next morning, the young girl went back to the forest to find it resting upon the same stone on which she found it the previous day. She took the doll home again, only for it to disappear a second time. She decided to leave the doll where it stood, and the town built a church around it, which in Cartago today they call the Basilica.
The group headed to Grecia’s beautiful red church for the celebration, where most of the citizens of Grecia had already gathered. “We were fortunate enough to enter the church to observe some of the religious service and to see a replica of the ‘black virgin’ on the altar,” Pinzás reported. Following a church service, the replica was carried in a procession for several blocks. The rest of the day was spent exploring a local market and experiencing another thunderstorm.
The next day, everyone visited Centro Educativo Nuevo Milenio, a private K-12 school, and after meeting some of the students they attended a special assembly for Science and Technology Day. Harker students then shadowed CENM students in grades 7-9 during their chemistry, math, computer, English and Spanish classes. “They had such a good time that students from both schools are hoping to meet again,” Pinzás said.
Continuing their visit to various schools in Costa Rica, on Aug. 4 the students toured a local public school with more than 1,400 students in grades 7-11. “Interestingly enough, those students who do not pass any given subject must repeat that subject until they pass it. There are no advanced classes, and teachers, not students, move between classes,” Pinzás observed.
Later, at a local woman’s home, the students took part in a cooking class and enjoyed a home-cooked meal. “The students helped Sra. Lavinia prepare a sumptuous arroz con pollo (chicken in rice), a traditional Costa Rican dish which features several local vegetables, special seasonings and chicken,” Pinzás wrote. “There was also a delectable vegetarian version for those who preferred it meat-free, and both were served with fried bananas (plátanos maduros), salad and refreshing fruit smoothies.” Best of all, the students all received the recipe so they could make the delicious dish themselves once they returned home.
The group’s next stop was the neighborhood of La Carpio, located just outside San Jose. Home to about 34,000 people, mostly Nicaraguan immigrants, La Carpio is known for the extreme poverty of most of its inhabitants. The Harker students took a private bus to a park just outside the neighborhood, where they played with some local children at a daycare center. “Our students thoroughly enjoyed playing with the 25 or so children, whose ages ranged from three months to four years old,” Pinzás said. “It was touching to see the instantaneous bonding that transcended cultures and language.”
Early the next morning, the students began heading north to Manuel Antonio National Park. Along the way, they stopped at the Tárcoles River to see the crocodiles that lived along its shores and also saw several macaws flying around the area. They also hiked through Rainmaker Park, a beautiful remnant rainforest, and observed the various plant and animal life there, such as poison dart frogs and centipedes. Upon reaching a waterfall, the students took the opportunity to step inside the natural pool below it. After another hour of driving, the group arrived at the hotel to rest up for the next day’s trek through Manuel Antonio National Park.
Pinzás reported “perfect weather” on the day of the visit to “one of the country’s smallest but most spectacular national parks.” They took a leisurely hike through the rainforest, and their guide identified many different insects, plants and animals. “We enjoyed seeing two- and three-toed sloths and many Congo monkeys, among others,” Pinzás wrote.
When they got to the beach (“which looked like it was from a movie set with majestic palm trees surrounding a turquoise bay,” Pinzás said), the students jumped into the pristine water almost immediately. A few hours later, everyone headed back to the hotel before they were beset by the afternoon rain.
The morning of Aug. 9, the group headed to the town of Sarchi. “The town is very historic because it lies along the old Pan American highway which connects Central and South America,” Pinzás said. Sarchi is famous for its painted oxcart wheels and hand-carved furniture and crafts. The students attended a painting class to learn the fundamentals of painting wheels. Don William, a local artist, invited the students into his house, where each student was given a small white wheel to paint.
Later, at the Eloy Alfaro factory, founded in 1920, the students learned about the making of the wheels and saw the artisans at work. “One of the most fascinating aspects of the factory is the fact that the machinery is still powered by water, not electricity, exactly as it was in 1920,” Pinzás said.
Near the end of the trip, the group went to a local sports complex to enjoy some fun athletic activities, and later that evening, they enjoyed dinner at the Mirador Ram Luna Restaurant. “This restaurant is located on the slopes of the Escazú hills in the city of Asserí, which is about 90 minutes away from Grecia,” Pinzás wrote. The restaurant offers a “breathtaking” view of Costa Rica’s Central Valley, she added. The students were treated to an entertaining music and dance show there. “Both the dinner and show were fantastic!” Pinzás said. Alyssa Amick, grade 8, was even called up to dance. “She made it look so effortless,” said Pinzás. “It was a memorable evening for all!”
The previous night’s fun actually served as a precursor to the students’ first activity on Aug. 11, a trip to a local dance studio for a Latin dance class. “The whole class was taught in Spanish! Our instructor, Jonathan, taught us how to do the Bachata, Cumbia, Salsa and a popular dance to a song called ‘Qué te pica’ by Notch,” Pinzás said. That evening, the students played an indoor soccer match with some local youths before heading back to the casitas for pizza and chatting.
On the final day of their trip, the group visited downtown Grecia for a scavenger hunt. “This activity was developed by one of our wonderful local contacts here, Amy Paschal,” Pinzás explained. “Students were divided up into groups of three or four and then had to follow the steps on their individualized scavenger hunts in both Spanish and English.” Certain tasks required conversing with the local townspeople, giving the students opportunity to practice their Spanish skills with native speakers. One such task involved asking a local to snap a photo of a group in front of a landmark. “Everyone laughed a lot and had a great time,” Pinzás recalled.
That evening after classes, the students and teachers had tremendous fun (and great food!) during a special farewell barbecue party. The Harker students were each presented with a group photo of the ACCE students they had befriended during the trip. The night concluded with the Harker students dancing to Yingo’s “Culikitaca” with some of the friends they had made during their stay.
The annual grade 8 trip to China was once again a fun-filled and enlightening experience for all. After arriving on May 29, the students did some sightseeing around the Shanghai area, visiting such places as the Oriental Pearl TV tower.
The next day, the students met with their friends at the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS), where they took part in an assembly at which student Neil Sadhu gave a brief speech about the student exchange between the two schools. During their visit to the school, Harker students participated in a number of classes, including Chinese opera, where they made their own opera masks. They also learned about traditional Chinese musical instruments and had the chance to play them after watching the WFLMS students perform. Following lunch, the students visited the World Expo China exhibition, and that evening they viewed an amazing acrobat show.
Next on the itinerary was a visit to Zhujiajiao, the water town known for its canals and historic buildings dating back 1,700 years. Several students bought live fish and turtles that were released into the water to symbolize good luck.
After shopping and a scenic boat ride, the students then returned to WFLMS to watch the school’s P.E. classes and take part in a tug-of-war as well as several other sports with the Chinese students.
On May 31, everyone headed to the Yuyuan Gardens in downtown Shanghai to see the breathtaking Chinese architecture from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The students marveled at the ornate decorations of the gardens as they were led through the many pathways.
Back at WFLMS, the Harker students attended shadow boxing and painting classes, and learned how to use an abacus.
The students said goodbye to their buddies the next morning and hopped on a plane to Beijing. There, they visited the Temple of Heaven, which the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties visited annually to offer prayers for a good harvest. Next, they explored the hutongs, Beijing’s traditional alleyways, riding on rickshaws to the house of a man who allowed the students to take a tour of his home. The man graciously answered many of the students’ questions about his life and thoughts on a variety of subjects. Before leaving his home, he advised the students to appreciate all that they have in their lives.
The next stage of the trip saw the students leaving Beijing for the Ming Tombs. On the way, they visited a jade factory to learn more about the stone and see some of the items being made. Upon arriving at the tombs, the students couldn’t resist taking photos of the statues that lined the famous “spirit way.” They were led to the dragon-headed turtle pavilion, where they rubbed the statue’s tail for a long life, and its head for continued happiness.
The group’s next major stop was none other than the Great Wall of China. “We took a ski lift to the top of the mountain where we could enter onto the wall. It was amazing!” said Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s global education director. “It was a clear sunny day, and we could see for miles.” Many photos were taken of the renowned structure, and the students were thrilled to take a toboggan ride down the side of the mountain.
A dinner of Peking duck was enjoyed that evening, and the students were treated to a “Legend of Kung Fu” show, featuring graceful and skilled dancers.
The group arrived back in Beijing the next day and began “a busy and long day full of sightseeing,” wrote Walrod in one of several dispatches to parents. In the morning, they visited Tiananmen Square and spoke of the 1989 protests and ensuing military action. They next headed to the Forbidden City, where they were guided through several of its 980 palatial buildings.
After enjoying lunch, the students went to the Silk Street, a shopping center where they could exercise their haggling skills with its many vendors. “We left the place carrying bags filled with our loot,” Walrod wrote. Later, the group arrived at the Summer Palace, China’s largest imperial garden, and rode a dragon boat to the palace’s pavilion. There, they enjoyed ice cream and viewed the paintings on the roof of the covered walkway.
The students arrived safely back home on June 6, ready to rest and reflect on a trip they won’t soon forget.
In a strong year for Harker’s Latin department, it comes as no surprise that Harker students had stellar performances on the National Myth Exam. The exam, which is given to all middle school students studying Latin, is administered every year through the American Classical League, which encourages the study of classical literature.
The exam itself is a multiple choice test that assesses students’ learning of Greek and Roman mythology which includes a subtest that tests knowledge of specific writing such as the “Iliad” or “Odyssey.” The exam was administered the first week of March, to test the students’ learning over the course of the year.
This year, more than 30 middle school students earned medals for impressive scores on the exam, with five students, Sean Costello, Aditya Dhar and Albert Xu, all grade 6, as well as Elisabeth Siegel and Allison Wang in grade 7, earning perfect scores. While Harker students usually perform well on the exam, Lisa Masoni, middle school Latin teacher, noted, “This is the first year I’ve had more than one gold medal.”
A total of 37 Japanese students took a crucial step in their understanding of the language in December after passing the first two levels of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). The test has been offered since 1984 and has become the most relied-upon Japanese language test in the world, with as many as 770,000 people taking the test in 2009. There are five levels of the test, with N1 being the highest level and N5 the starting level.
Students who passed the N4 level are: recent graduates Ashley Hejtmanek and Victoria Liang, rising seniors Noah Levy, Mark Taboada and Tiffany Jang; and rising juniors Erik Andersen, Catherine Manea, Indica Sur, Aileen Wen, Lorraine Wong, Iris Xia and Wilbur Yang.
Students who passed the N5 level are: rising seniors Crystal Chen and Shilpa Nataraj; rising juniors Meera Madhavan, Christian Lantzsch, Justin Yang, Joseph Wang, Michael Chen and Ryan Hume; and rising sophomores Adarsh Battu, Brandon Yang, Viram Naidu, Daniel Pak, Monika Lee, Albert Chu, Nathan Dhablania, Kristine Lin, Jeffrey Hanke, Srikar Pyda, Darian Edvaison, Maya Madhavan, Benjamin Chu, Kevin Monhanram, Krish Sanghi, Kiana Bisla and Arman Mortazavi.
In April, recent graduate Jason Young took first place at the annual French competition held by the Alliance Francaise of Santa Clara Valley, for which he received a prize of $400. The contest, open to high school senior non-native French speakers, was held at San Jose City College and tested participants on their written and oral abilities. During the timed written portion, students wrote an essay about a novel of their choice. The oral portion had the students hold a 10-minute conversation with two of the contest’s judges.
A group of students, along with their chaperons Jennifer Gargano, assistant to the head of the upper school, and Kevin Williamson, the upper school dean of students, enjoyed learning about the French language and Switzerland en vivo. The following are a Gargano’s emails to the students’ parents relating the details of the trip, from their arrival to the day of their departure:
“Sunday
Dear Parents:
The second group of students and I just arrived in Fribourg. After 2 flights and a train ride from Geneva to Fribourg, we have arrived to the location we have all been waiting for. The buddies and their mothers were waiting anxiously to pick up Neeraj, Stephanie, and Piyush.
I am looking forward to meeting up with the entire group and hearing what all of the students did this weekend. We will be meeting as a group at 8am at the school tomorrow. We will begin our day at the school observing classes and then we will go to the town of Fribourg for the afternoon. At the end of the school day, students will then go back with their buddy for additional activities the families organized for them.
In regards to the class observations tomorrow, the school has organized a special school schedule for those who speak French so they can be a part of as many courses in French language learning as possible. I am looking forward to a fun and educational day.
Jennifer Gargano
Monday
Dear Parents:
We had a great first day as an entire group. After a welcome from the principal of College de Gambach, we began a rotation of classes. Each group had one session where they learned various facts about Switzerland. Who knew Romansch is the fourth official language of Switzerland after German, French, and Italian? All groups also had the opportunity to visit an English class where they participated in prompted discussions. These discussions helped the French students at College de Gambach learn more English words and gave our students an opportunity to learn more about Swiss culture. Harker students studying French also attended a French class (where German speakers learn French) and participated in many discussions in French.
All of the Harker students and their buddies then went to lunch at a restaurant called ‘Le Tunnel.” We ate delicious baked quiches that reminded the students of pizza.
In the afternoon, we had a guided walking tour of Fribourg. We did quite a bit of walking and with all of the inclined streets, we indeed got a workout. Therefore, at the end of the afternoon we went to a café where we had water or iced tea to replenish our reserves. Students then returned to the homes of their host families.
We were able to take many photos today.
Tomorrow, we spend the day in Lausanne and Lake Geneva!
Jennifer Gargano
Tuesday
Dear Parents:
We once again had a beautiful day in terms of weather, at least for the majority of the day anyway. First thing this morning, Mr. Williamson and I greeted the students at the train station before we left for Lausanne. Even at 7:45am, they were smiling and enthusiastic about the events of the day. Lausanne is the home of the International Olympic Committee so appropriately we visited the Olympic museum once we arrived. This museum, full of interactive exhibits, explained the original intent of the formal Olympics; to encourage olympism by promoting excellence, respect, and friendship. The goal essentially was to build a better world through sports, a common ‘language’ to all. We then took a boat trip to Vevey, which was a relaxing experience for the students. During the boat trip, the students had an hour to view Lake Geneva and the landscape of Switzerland while eating their lunch.
While in Vevey, the headquarters of Nestlé, we went to the Food Museum or Alimentarium. The museum was opened by the Nestlé foundation in 1985 to educate about all aspects of food and nutrition, focusing on the history of cooking, eating, and purchasing food. We first took a guided tour of the museum. Students taking French had a guided tour in French while students not taking French obviously had an English-speaking guide. At the end of the tour, the students participated in a cooking workshop whereby they were able to make French hors d’oeuvres with the guidance of a chef at the museum. The students then had a bit of time to shop in the marketplace of Vevey with their buddies before heading back to the train to Fribourg. Once we arrived back in Fribourg, it was time for the students to return home with the buddies for the evening.
Tomorrow, we head of to the Maison Cailler Chocolate Factory. From my discussions with the students this week, the chocolate tasting at the end of the factory tour is what many students are looking forward to the most!
Jennifer Gargano
Wednesday
Dear Parents:
Mr. Williamson and I both once again greeted the students at the train/bus station early this morning where we caught up with them to see how they were doing and what they had done with their buddies and families the evening before. A family meal and an occasional movie tended to be the common theme.
We then left by bus for Broc, the home of the Maison Cailler Chocolate Factory. The students were in awe of the interactive guided tour. It started with a gallery showcasing Cailler’s famous packaging graphics from 1898 until the present day and was preceded by a Willy Wonka-style 4-D presentation. Many students described it as “Disneyland-like” and some indeed said they felt like they were in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. As soon as you entered the tour, the scent of chocolate was infused into the various rooms we were led into. With each phase, doors and/or walls opened and closed automatically leading us into the next scene of the story where a voice explained each segment of the history of chocolate from 1893. The walls of the last room opened and led us into the actual factory where we were able to taste both chocolate beans and all of the chocolates sold by Cailler.
Once we got back to Fribourg, students were met by their buddies for a special late lunch. All of the Swiss buddies had organized a special lunch outing for the students. Assuming the Harker students would want American food by now, they took them to a restaurant with burgers and classic American faire. All of the students and their buddies then went bowling as a group before returning home to their families.
Today was a lighter day that was very enjoyable for all of the students. Tomorrow, we return to the school where the students will once again participate in language classes in the morning, followed by an afternoon visit to Morat, the capital of Fribourg.
Jennifer Gargano
Thursday
Dear Parents:
We started our day in classes today. The first class involved all of our students and some of the Swiss students. Students were given a worksheet with the word bread written in 55 languages and groups of students competed to see which group could correctly identify the most languages. Stephanie and Mary’s group won the competition and earned a bar of chocolate for their efforts. A couple of the Swiss students then sang some contemporary songs to the class for our enjoyment.
The remainder of the classes was divided by the Harker students who speak French and those who do not. Many of these classes were English classes dedicated to interacting with the Swiss students and learning more about their culture. In one class I observed, students were asked to use the imperative form of English verbs by writing recipes they made that were representative of their cultures. Students then had to present their recipes. It was obvious our students don’t cook as much as the Swiss students as the recipes we shared were simpler, such as fruit salad or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We later had classes whereby the Harker and Swiss students had to discuss stereotypes their culture holds of the other. Unfortunately, the main American stereotype shared was that they believe most Americans are overweight. In another activity, we had to write down American words, food, celebrities, national treasures, etc. that the Swiss students might not be familiar with. When the Swiss students saw the word, they had to guess what it was. The Swiss students had to do the same for the Harker students. It was interesting to see that the Swiss students were not familiar with Oprah and FroYo (short for frozen yogurt) but they did know about Costco.
After the morning of classes, buddies once again took the Harker students out to lunch. After lunch, we all met again and left by train to Murten, the capital of the Lake District of the canton of Fribourg. The students explored the small town as they worked on a scavenger hunt that required them to look at maps or ask those in the town answers to the questions on the scavenger hunt quiz. We organized it as a contest and Justin and Kevin were the first to notify us that they completed the quiz with all of the correct answers. Students were then given a bit of time to shop in the town or explore it further. Many enjoyed the frozen gelato sold in town.
After our visit to Murten, we headed back to Fribourg by train and students then returned to their host family’s home for the remainder of the evening.
Tomorrow is our last day as a group before we head to the airport on Sunday. We will spend the morning at the school again and then go to Bern in the afternoon.
Jennifer Gargano
Friday
Dear Parents:
We began our day with classes at College de Gambach. For the first class, students taking French and those who are not were once again took separate classes. Those in the French class sang French songs while those in the non-French class participated in an English class where Gambach students had to translate a riddle for the Harker students to solve. It was quite involved and difficult but Molly’s group did solve it before the end of class. Prior to the riddle however, we were treated to some more singing. Bridget and Angela sang a beautiful contemporary song and a Swiss boy also sang a French song to the entire class.
After the first class, the entire Harker group met to debrief the week and to fill out evaluations. There were varied and thoughtful responses about what the students enjoyed, found unique, or found educational. Many of the students said that their favorite part was the chocolate factory; however, many also mentioned that the homestay experience was an invaluable insight into another culture. The students also enjoyed getting to know students at Gambach beyond their buddies in addition to having the opportunity to get to know the other Harker students on the trip even better. For our last class, Harker students taking Spanish attended a Spanish class where they participated in organized Spanish dialogues.
After our classes, we took the train to Bern. We began our time in Bern eating lunch as a group in a large conference room at a local hotel. Since it was our last meal as a group, Kevin and Mary spoke a bit about what the experience meant to them and thanked, on behalf of the entire Harker group, all of the buddies for their kindnesses and welcoming nature. The Swiss teachers at the lunch told me they were impressed by the words and the level of sincerity expressed. We then took a guided walking tour and saw several interesting sites including an elaborate medieval clock tower with moving puppets as the hour turned at 2pm, a beautiful gothic cathedral, an apartment Albert Einstein lived at for several years, and the federal palace. The students and their buddies were given some free time to shop in Bern before heading back to Fribourg. Once we returned to Fribourg, students and their buddies returned home for their last day and a half together. I know many students have varied Saturday plans. Some are participating in some local intermural sports game in their towns while many others are going to the Mountains or back to Bern to explore further.
I also wanted to mention what a wonderful time Mr. Williamson and I had with your children. As I told the students this morning, my favorite part of the trip by far was getting to them know them better. This morning, I asked the students to thank you for providing them this opportunity all said they benefited from greatly, whether the benefit was increasing their French language skills or increasing their cultural awareness in general. I hope many of them take this advice and indeed do thank you.