April 6, Zara's blog

Treasured moments with host families

One of the biggest differences I have noticed so far is how late the college application process is for high school seniors in China. While all the seniors in our group have already started hearing back from colleges or even know where they will be going next year, the students here have yet to take the college entrance exam, or Gaokao. Because Syndiely and I have a host brother who is currently a senior at a boarding school, our host father told us all of the facts about the Gaokao. After students take the test in June, they submit their scores; however, if you don’t score above 500 points, your chances of getting into college are very low. Additionally, our host father told us that only 20% of students from this area are able to get into college, otherwise they will have to make a living farming. Because the Gaokao is so important to the students’ future, our host father expressed to us that he was worried about his son’s score and wanted us to help him with his English practice tests when he came home for the Tomb Sweeping Holiday.

Helping our host brother proved to be a much more challenging task than we had anticipated, as the complexity of the questions were beyond our Chinese abilities. Still wanting to help our host brother out, we tried our best to explain situational nuances between different English words while acting out scenarios to get our meaning across. After finally getting through the packet, our host brother was very thankful, and Syndiely and I both felt honored to have been able to help him with something that is so important to his future with college.

After his break from school ended, our host brother left early in the morning without being able to say goodbye; however, we later found that he had left us a note in English, thanking us again for our help and reminding us to not forget to add him on WeChat. The note was very sweet, and we were both extremely grateful to have been able to spend time with him on his day off.


Zara and Syndiele with host father and grandfather


Daniel and Oliver with their host family



Sarah and Akal with their family


Oliver, Jucas, and Nara with host family


Hannah and Isobel with their host family





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