China an adventure for Flathead grad

It was supposed to be a fun trip to China.

Erika MacGregor, a 2008 Flathead High School graduate who just finished her sophomore year at Concordia University Nebraska, always has wanted to travel. When the college offered a trip to China last spring, she leapt at the opportunity.

“I’ve always wanted to go to China,” she said. “I would like to travel everywhere. It was a start.”

But the trip turned out to be more than just a fun overseas excursion.

Only one other student, Hannah Kroonblawd of Eagan, Minn., signed up for the trip. Since both young women are education majors, the professor who organized the trip included stops at international schools in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The result, MacGregor said, was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that helped her narrow down some of her future plans.

“Now I’m interested in teaching overseas,” she said. “I want to go back and student-teach over there.”

The trip took MacGregor, Kroonblawd and professor Daniel Thurber to Hong Kong, Shanghai and finally to Nantong. Concordia University Nebraska has a relationship with Nantong University, MacGregor explained, and this fall four students from Nantong will be part of Concordia’s exchange program.

By traveling from Hong Kong to Shanghai to Nantong, the Americans were able to slowly adapt to Chinese culture, MacGregor said. They spent three days in Hong Kong “doing different cultural things.”

That included visiting the city’s night market, an evening marketplace where vendors take up three city blocks. Few spoke English and the Americans didn’t speak Chinese, so they relied on calculators to barter, MacGregor said.

They also visited Hong Kong International School to see how the school was run, she said. Most students there were foreigners, but the school accepted a handful of Chinese students.

When they needed something familiar, the Americans headed for the golden arches — but quickly discovered “You want fries with that?” isn’t ubiquitous at McDonald’s across the world.

French fries aren’t the standard side dish with burgers in China, MacGregor said. Unless a customer requests fries specifically, the meal comes with corn.

MacGregor opted against the vegetable.

“The french fries [in China] are better than the ones here,” she said.

From Hong Kong the Americans traveled to Shanghai, where they visited Concordia International School. There they observed a Chinese early childhood program and had lunch with the headmaster.

After only half a day in Hong Kong, the Americans left for Nantong.

There they met the four university students who will be traveling to Nebraska this fall. They also spent time at a public school.

“We got to spend time at two traditional Chinese classrooms,” MacGregor said.

She and Kroonblawd led music classes for third- and sixth-grade students and taught them the classics “I’m a Little Teapot” and “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”

They also observed English classes to see how Chinese students learn a foreign language. Students begin studying English in third grade and by the time they reach sixth grade, they’re more or less fluent, MacGregor said.

The schools are very structured in China, she said.

She and Kroonblawd watched the students line up and march in sync with the music, then perform synchronized exercises. In class, students sit with their hands on their laps and don’t speak unless spoken to.

When they’re asked a question, they stand to give the answer.

It was a far cry from the grade school days MacGregor remembers, which were much more chaotic and involved more hyper kids running around the classroom.

But the cultural differences don’t make Chinese students any less childish than their American peers, she said.

“They have normal play time,” she said. “They’re just regular kids.”

MacGregor said she already is looking forward to possibly student-teaching in an international school in China.

“I hope to get into an elementary school,” she said, adding that teaching third- or fourth-graders would be ideal. “They’re what I really enjoyed working with.”

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.