Nearly two dozen students and teachers from Fuling and DeYang, two cities in Southeast China, have spent the past week living with families in Montclair, practicing their English and visiting local schools, museums, shops, an American Legion post, neighborhood restaurants, malls and even taking in a Jersey Jackals baseball game.
The quick immersion into American culture was organized by Mayor Jerry Fried, who visited China in May and has high hopes that the cultural exchanges could lead to much more for both nations.
Nelson Lee, who operates the company that arranges student-exchange programs with China and helped coordinate the Montclair visit, agreed with Fried.
The visiting Chinese teens were impressed with the clothes, the food and the music they experienced. Despite the different languages and customs, the Chinese teens had no trouble making friends with their Montclair peers.
Corinna McElwain, an incoming Montclair High School freshman, said she enjoyed Glarie Huang and Chloe He staying with her family. "It was really cool," McElwain said. "We talked about all sorts of things like music, clothes, going shopping and American pop things. They really liked that. Source: George Wirt, Montclair Times, Jul 29. 2010).