The Foreign Culture Trip is Now Facing Change

Near the month of October, approximately two-thirds of the school packed into buses and disappeared to Puxi for an early vacation. The annual tradition of culture fieldtrips has been integrated into the very first month of school this year, just as each of the Spanish and French classes began learning their respective courses. This tradition has taken SMIC-I students all across Shanghai throughout the years, learning salsa dancing, eating French rotisserie chicken, and even painting cardboard whales.

All these foreign dishes and activities have been photographed and enjoyed by all, and the tradition of the culture trip has been around since the start of SMIC. For almost 10 years now, French and Spanish students have taken trips to Puxi to immerse themselves in Hispanic or French culture. The trip is normally staged later in the year, typically May, when the weather is nicer. However, this year the heads of the language department, Ms. Ana Rodriguez and Mr. Cedric Chastagner, have decided to bring the trips to the next step in order to promote their culture. “We would like to have two per year in the future,” said Mr.Cedric. “One earlier, and one later in the year.” The field trip is a significant bonding experience because the whole day is spent participating in team-based challenges and activities.

Mr. Cedric Chastagner at the Madeleine Bakery, with Ms. Nathalie Ricot in the back Courtesy of Mina Chen (9B)

The greatest significance of these field trips is being able to really embrace and see other cultures up close. According to Mr. Cedric, “What I learned about education is that what we remember from our classes is usually what happens outside the classroom. This is certainly true for me, and for most of the people in these classes. The French class always remembers the field trips.”

Stephanie Lee (11B) in the LiuLi Glass Museum at Eric Bronte’s glass exhibition Courtesy of Mina Chen

This year, the French class went to see an abstract glass exhibition by a French glassworker who broke the Guinness World Record for the largest glass dome. Each year, the location is different for both languages. According to Mr. Cedric, “We pick whatever is available that is in French. We just look at the Shanghai calendar and find something.”

French 1, 2, 3, and AP classes together outside the LaA Creperie Photo courtesy of Cedric Chastagner

Meanwhile, the Spanish classes were split up. Spanish 1 went to learn salsa dancing at the Tango Esencia Club, and were led by a trilingual dance instructor (using English, Chinese, and Spanish to teach them).

The Tango Esencia Club all Spanish classes went to Photo courtesy of Danny Tu (9A)

The other classes, Spanish 2, 3, and AP were split off and got to attend a Spanish-speaking conference. This was a new experience because of the different accents they got to hear.

The conference room Spanish 2, 3, and AP attended Photo courtesy of Cindy Huang (11A)

Ms. Ana, who led the classes with Mrs. Ariana Sanders, believes that the culture trip is extremely important to learning about their language on a deeper level. “There’s a need of exposing the students to real life and real Hispanic activities that China offers for the Hispanic population. Every year is different. There are more and more opportunities coming from Latin America and Spain as the population grows. The world is so big. So many countries speak Spanish,” said Ms. Ana.

The Spanish 1 class posing for a class photo in the tango dancing club Photo courtesy of Ana Rodriguez

This year, the Spanish classes all came together to try Costa Rican food at the restaurant Azul. Meanwhile, closer to the former French Concession, French students got to try a variety of crepes from the La Creperie.

“This trip really helps the students enjoy and really experience and know the Hispanic culture, like dancing salsa. They get to learn about different cultures and get into other culture’s shoes. Through this, the different class levels get to interact and spend time with each other and learn about the others…This teaches the students about respecting traditions, so it has to do with the ESLRs too. And they get to compare different types of food with their culture and the one they get to try,” said Ms. Ana.

The culture trip has certainly come a long way from when Mr. Cedric and Ms. Ana first took the reins. It’s certainly going to see change again in the future, and all the foreign language students eagerly await what comes next!

Featured image- Spanish students eagerly await food from the Restaurant Azul (left) as the French students have lunch in the La Creperie (right) Courtesy of Danny Tu and Sophia Shan (9B).

 By Sophia Shan