The SFLEG Summer Camp was an unforgettable highlight of my summer, providing an opportunity for myself and the students’ own personal and academic growth. This two-week programme felt like a lifetime, as the wonderful people at the school arranged so many exciting activities for us to do but also went by in the blink of an eye as I had so much fun.

Once arriving to Shijiazhuang, we immediately got immersed into the academic environment, having tour of the very impressive school and meeting students and teachers who would be with us for the entirety of the summer camp. We were able to look at their sports grounds, with a row of ping pong tables that went as far as you could see – the love for the national sport ever present. We also toured their art classrooms and sat in on some music lessons. You could tell that although the school has around 12,000 students, there is a strong sense of community, as students from both primary and secondary years played together perfectly. It was interesting to learn about the different types of traditional Chinese instruments that I had never seen before. After getting used to the school environment, we began teaching the next day.

The first lesson was both nerve-wracking and exciting, but I gained a lot of confidence after getting very positive feedback from the students and the teachers – the most touching being: ‘Even though I call you “teacher”, you are more like a friend, so I enjoyed your class a lot’. The next lessons flew by in a blur of British playground games, sweets (which is probably why the students liked me so much), biology lectures, and poster making. I was blown away by the creativity of the students, their determination and the way they worked as a team to figure out difficult biological terms in English. I even ended up picking some terms in Mandarin from their discussions. On the fifth day of each week, it was the day where all the students would present the posters that they created, and we would vote for the winners. The students were extremely shy at the start of the summer camp regarding their English-speaking skills, so it was rewarding to see that they had gained both confidence and fluency by the end of the week. One group of students even wanted to surprise me with their presentation, practicing it in another classroom which I wasn’t let into; they produced a presentation full of songs, acting, and handmade props, winning them first place.

Each week of the programme, we were invited for an evening out with a student and their family. The first week, I went with Lucy and her family to Zhengding – the old part of Shijiazhuang. The town was beautiful, with traditional architecture, brightly lit street food stalls and the Zhengding City Wall. In the ancient town, I saw many people dressed in traditional Han clothing, and after asking the family if it was a special occasion, they told me that people just enjoy dressing up and immediately took me to a clothing rental shop where I could try it on myself. Elegantly dressed, we then walked the streets of the old town, drank milk tea, walked along the Zhengding City Wall, took many photos, and had Beijing duck for dinner, which was my first time trying it. The evening ended much later than originally planned, since the family was enjoying taking me to so many of their favourite places. I had such an amazing time with the family, motivating Lucy to work hard towards her dream of studying biology at Cambridge, whilst also learning a lot about their daily lives and Chinese culture.

The next week, I went with Dylan to visit his grandmother and great-uncle. His great-uncle is amazing at calligraphy, having mastered so many different styles. After extensively explaining the correct grip of the pen, I was allowed to try it out myself. It was a very relaxing activity, although I found it difficult to remember the stroke order, but I was very happy to get his approval! His grandmother then showed me all of her sewing materials, of which I found her traditional sewing machine really fascinating. I left the apartment with so many sentimental gifts, including clothes that the grandmother had sewn for me, a poetic sheet of calligraphy that the great-uncle had made for me the day before, and uniquely shaped dried calabash, which I was told are for good luck. The dinner was very adventurous, and I found myself trying things like caviar, tentacles and jellyfish – all of which I really enjoyed!

During our free time in Shijiazhuang, I really enjoyed the visit to the hot springs, watching my first ever football match and the trip to the top of a mountain, where there were beautiful temples, lakes and caves. The trip to Beijing at the end of the programme was also a highlight as we got to visit popular places such as the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Badaling Great Wall.

I am so grateful to have completed this programme, as it enabled me to immerse myself in Chinese culture. The kindness and generosity of all of the people I met was like no other, and it made me want to visit China again. The experience was very different from travelling as a tourist, and I would love to explore other countries in a similar way in the future.