Under a bright blue sky, more than two dozen students and faculty from China kayaked the Delaware River from the Kittatinny Point Visitors Center to Portland, Pa., guided by East Stroudsburg University students and staff last week.<\/p>\n
One of the ESU guides, Wenxiao \u201cAlvin\u201d Shang, a native of China who received his master\u2019s degree from ESU in May, said it was the first time some of the students from Beijing Sport University had ever paddled a kayak. It was a great introduction to both the sport and the loveliness of the Pocono Mountains and the Water Gap.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s beautiful, the sky is blue and you see the reflection of the mountains in the river,\u201d Shang said. He was echoed by Beijing student Zhenjia \u201cJames\u201d Xie, who added, \u201cThe mountains and the river make a great picture, a great view.\u201d<\/p>\n
The excursion was just one adventure in an educational and activity-packed three weeks of East Stroudsburg University\u2019s Sport Science program. Over the course of the cultural exchange that wraps up Aug. 4, ESU staff members are guiding the Chinese group on trips to New York City, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, as well as regional attractions such as Bushkill Falls and Dorney Park. ESU faculty and staff are also working with the Chinese students on intensive instruction in English and providing seminars and demonstrations in American sports and exercise science.<\/p>\n
ESU Men\u2019s Basketball Head Coach Jeff Wilson \u201986 M\u201992, and Assistant Coach Muhamadou Kaba held a workshop on basketball, and the students tried kickboxing with Edward Arner, ESU instructor of sport management.\u00a0 The group golfed at Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort, hiked at Bushkill Falls and completed a ropes course and zipline at Stony Acres recreation center.<\/p>\n
Xie and Chinese student Ji \u201cAnn\u201d Wang said they especially liked the ropes course, zip line and kayaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got many new skills,\u201d Ji Wang said.<\/p>\n
This is the fourth year for the Sport Science program, which is directed by ESU Professor of Physical Education Gene White, Ph.D. and Associate Professor of Physical Education Peng Zhang, Ph.D. The Chinese students stay in Hawthorn Suites residence hall with two ESU students, Andrew Lopez and Brooke Kaminsky, acting as camp counselors.<\/p>\n
Working with the Chinese students has been a revelation for Lopez and Kaminsky.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been learning a lot from them about their culture and how they see our culture,\u201d Kaminsky said. \u201cIt\u2019s really just a great experience so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were playing football and everybody was enjoying it,\u201d said Kaminsky, a sophomore majoring in health education from Philadelphia, Pa. \u201cI don\u2019t think they had ever held a football before today. I was helping them position their hands properly on the ball. They had a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n
She has learned the Beijing students are huge Taylor Swift fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey know all the songs, and they sing in English,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Lopez, a junior majoring in physical education teacher certification from Scranton, Pa., said he admires the way the students treat each other and strangers with respect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they eat, they don\u2019t order one platter like we all do,\u201d he said. \u201cThey actually order four separate things and they share. They\u2019re more family oriented.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jinghao \u201cMichael\u201d Wang, who is majoring in sport training at Beijing Sport University, said he was glad to be working on his English and learning more about American sports, especially football.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing sport,\u201d Wong said.<\/p>\n
Cynthia Leenerts, Ph.D., ESU associate professor of English, works with Steve Ives, interim director of International Programs, and Alvin Shang, to help the students improve their English proficiency. The emphasis is on conversational English so they can use what they learn right away. So, for example, the students are learning \u201cshopping English, dining English, asking somebody out English,\u201d Dr. Leenerts said.<\/p>\n
Ives said that includes \u201cmock demonstrations so they can practice ordering food at a restaurant, so they know the protocol, what taxes will be added, how they should tip \u2013 because that\u2019s different, learning about those type of customs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leenerts and Ives said Shang is helping the Chinese students understand American slang and idioms, which often trip up foreigners.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did icebreakers because it was the first time we met with them,\u201d Ives said. \u201cAnd Alvin explained what \u2018break the ice\u2019 means.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the opening ceremony, Ives and others thanked ESU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Joanne Bruno, J.D., for her support of the program. But Bruno said organizers such as White, Zhang, Leenerts, Ives, Shang and their Chinese counterparts deserve the credit for all the work they do providing for such a unique opportunity and cultural exchange.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just lucky enough to be in an office that can say, \u2018Go for it.\u2019\u201d Bruno said.<\/p>\n
Peng Gao, a professor of Beijing Sport University, said what the Chinese students learn from the experience goes far beyond academics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is deep learning that our students cannot gain inside classrooms,\u201d Gao said. \u201cThank you again for opening your hearts for us today.\u201d<\/p>\n
White and Zhang said they hoped the program would challenge and inspire the students.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things I\u2019ve learned from my students is that my particular career is not about teaching you to throw or kick or run, my career is about teaching people and helping people grow,\u201d Dr. White said.<\/p>\n
Shang said he enjoys showing his countrymen American culture and bringing Chinese culture to Americans.<\/p>\n
\u201cEducation is without borders,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Under a bright blue sky, more than two dozen students and faculty from China kayaked the Delaware River from the Kittatinny Point Visitors Center to Portland, Pa., guided by East Stroudsburg University students and staff last week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":17651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[143,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-esu-success-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17649"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17649"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17657,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17649\/revisions\/17657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}