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International friendships made as Beijing meets Cheektowaga
By John J. Hopkins Times
Maryvale High School took on an international flavor during the past ten days as a group of 30 students from Beijing, China visited the area as part of an exchange program.
The students, who attend a Beijing high school associated with Capital Normal University, stayed with local host families.
All of the special guests were given "American" names during their visit. They shadowed their American counterparts during the academic day.
The students arrived in Cheek- towaga through the Nacel Open Door program. Pat Clark, program director for Nacel, said that the Beijing group is the first in the program's 15 years to visit Maryvale.
"It's been a wonderful exchange," said Maryvale High School Principal Renee Salvadore. "The Maryvale community, families and students are enjoying their visit."
Maryvale Board of Education President Kristen Finn and her family hosted one of the students. She told the Times that her family had a "wonderful" time hosting Zang Huiran, better known as "Pearl."
"We learned a lot and I hope she did too," Finn said.
Ann Hergott, her husband Bruce and daughter Katelyn hosted "Jesse," whose real name is Chang Lui. She called the experience "fabulous."
Hergott said that Jesse watched and wanted to do everything Katelyn did.
"She's sort of quiet. We had to coax her to talk," Hergott said. "Once she does, she's a lovely girl."
Program Director Clark said that the hospitality of host families and area residents give the Buffalo area an advantage over cities in warmer climates, such as Orlando and Los Angeles.
"When the kids go back home, one of the things they write on their evaluations is that the families are among the things they like the most," Clark said. "People here have a reputation for being very nice. They love their host families."
Both the Hergotts and Finns said that the Maryvale students were impressed by the Chinese students' math skills.
"Jesse can do math faster by hand than my daughter could with a calculator," Hergott said. "She told Katelyn that they were learning the stuff our kids are learning now when they were in elementary school."
Finn added that her son quizzed Pearl and his sister Cassidy on square roots.
"Cassidy would try to figure it out in her head, and Pearl would just give the answer," Finn said.
As a group, the students visited Niagara Falls and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Of course, no teenager's trip to the area would be complete without a visit to the outlet mall in Niagara Falls and Cheektowaga's own Walden Galleria.
"Jesse loved to shop," said Hergott. "She's very much a teenager."
Clark joked that the group "bought out" the entire outlet mall.
The students also had an opportunity to meet Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, plus Assemblyman Dennis H. Gabryszak.
Gabryszak chatted with the students last week for one hour. He discussed his role in the New York State Assembly and the differences between local, county and state governments.
The guests also enjoyed activities separately with their host families.
The Hergotts took Jesse to Dave and Buster's restaurant in Clarence and during her stay she really enjoyed watching the Sabres.
Pearl attended a Bandits lacrosse game with the Finns. She also got to experience an American birthday when Christopher Finn turned 13 years old.
"Chris has a fish tank and she bought him a fish," Finn said. "He named it 'Pearl' so that he could always remember her. She's become one of the family."
The group was scheduled to leave the Buffalo area this morning. They were to visit the East Coast before returning to China.
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