In March, THIS welcomed 19 students from Tsinglan School for a week-long exchange trip. The arrival of Tsinglan students added an extra burst of energy and excitement to the already vibrant THIS campus. THIS prepared a series of enriching activities for their Tsinglan classmates designed to deepen their knowledge, broaden their horizons, and cultivate meaningful friendships.
Let’s recap this unforgettable exchange trip together!
With friends coming from afar, THIS welcomed the arrival of Tsinglan students and teachers with full enthusiasm. On the first day, THIS arranged a relaxing campus tour in order to relieve the tiredness of the Tsinglan visitors. Ms. Dieu-Anh Nguyen, THIS Secondary Director, led the group to familiarize themselves with the campus and gave them an introduction to the secondary curriculum and weekly schedule. Each Tsinglan student was integrated into a homeroom as well as given a THIS buddy, someone with whom they can study together, ask questions, and share memories.
2023 THIS Model UN Conference
To kick off the exchange, the Tsinglan students attended the 2023 THIS Model United Nations Conference. Four Tsinglan students directly participated as delegates in the event on joining dozens of students from other international schools in Beijing. After a day and a half of conference, the students learned how to solemnly “take national sovereignty as the premise, based on the country, look at the international, discuss the topic of the survival and development of the earth and the future destiny of mankind”.
After the first day of study, THIS staff prepared a family dinner party where everyone made dumplings and enjoyed delicious hotpot. The Tsinglan students, their chaperones, THIS homeroom teachers and the buddies ate, chatted, sang, and played instruments. Principal Wenping Li also joined the party to encourage THIS and Tsinglan students to communicate more, support each other in study and help each other in life. The family dinner was full of joy and happiness.
College Application Sharing Session
Hearing about the fruitful results of the THIS Class 2023 students, Tsinglan students looked forward to meeting the THIS seniors. A select group of grade 12 students and outstanding alumni were invited to host a sharing session. The seniors talked about their college application experiences and offered practical advice. Overall, they encouraged their younger “brothers and sisters” to keep the love for learning, keep exploring, keep thinking, and do not stop moving forward.
During the secondary assembly, the various THIS student bands once again gave wonderful musical performance. Justin He from Tsinglan also lit up the stage with a performance on his ukelele. The audience clapped along with the upbeat rhythm, which ignited a round of applause and admiration. Tsinglan student representatives and teachers also presented THIS with their elaborate calligraphy works, “If we know that we are connected, we will meet as old friends wherever we are.” These short words, with a light touch, show the love between the two schools.
To give the students a close experience with real research, they visited the biology, physics and artificial intelligence laboratories of Tsinghua University. Led by THIS teachers, the students learned about the university’s scientific research projects and felt the persistent research spirit of Tsinghua-ers realizing that research needs both repetitive experiments and innovate thinking.
When on the Tsinghua campus, one should miss the exhibitions at the Tsinghua Art Museum! The Tsinglan students viewed the current and very popular brooch exhibition. The students appreciated not only the exquisite appearance of the brooches, but also was captivated by the history and social culture behind them.
THIS invited Mr. Shiwei Dong from the Department of History of Tsinghua University to introduce the Tsinghua buildings to Tsinglan students. They gained a deeper understanding of the buildings. Not only did the students learn to appreciate the aesthetics expressed by the layers and color design, but they also learned to read the language of art in them.
Ms. Dieu-Anh Nguyen
Secondary Director
With the promise of new beginnings along with the spring, THIS welcomed our classmates from our sister school, the Tsinglan School in Dongguan. This small, enthusiastic group of grade 8 and 9 students came to us with open hearts sharing their passions, personalities, and love for learning. Our students, in exchange, proudly reciprocated and made new life-long friends.
Seeing the students come together so naturally and earnestly makes my work special and such a privilege. We often get bogged down with the daily stresses and “grown up” problems that we forget to appreciate what is right in front of our eyes. Though the exchange was aimed to enrich the students’ school experience, it certainly enriched mine. I once again am re-energized and recommitted to finish the schoolyear strong!
Ms. Weiky Liu
Assistant Secondary Director
“Isn’t it nice to have friends from far away?” The visit of Tsinglan students and teachers was certainly a surprise to THIS students after the epidemic and the greater openness of the campus. Adolescents love to make friends, especially friends from afar, and they are always curious and excited. Learning does not only happen in the class, but also grows through communication. Even before the visit was over, the students were already looking forward to their visit to Qinglan School. Let’s look forward to more “coming in” and “going out” activities in the future!
Lucas，Tsinglan
My week at THIS was only made possible by my buddies Kunkun and Charles. They showed me all around the school. Even though the school may not be as big as Tsinglan I felt that the community here in THIS is very united. The atmosphere here was great and everyone was friendly and willing to talk to me. In general, I enjoyed my stay.
Huikun Zhang, THIS
My buddy Lucas is really enthusiastic and athletic. He liked to communicate with everybody. He also loves the food at THIS, and wanted to try everything in the cafeteria. He also engaged in a lot of the classes, and he learned some French along with us. He fitted into the whole class.
Miranda, Tsinglan
I was lost in the sea of students when I saw Amy. She led me around the school and showed me everything. I felt appreciated and accepted by the THIS community. I gained an interesting learning experience, and THIS is a really friendly welcoming community. If I ever get a chance to come here, it would be my pleasure.
Amy Liu, THIS
It’s my pleasure to help Miranda for this week. She shared a lot about courses in her school. Eating hotpot with Tsinglan students was very fun. Wish we can meet again!
Time flew by with the week of exchange activities coming to an end. We believe that Tsinglan and THIS students have learned a lot from each other while developing meaningful friendships.
We are looking forward to more exchange activities ahead – to enhance communication, to grow together, to empower each other, and to create a better future together.
