Written by: Emily Herman
Editor-in-Chief

Twelve students and one teacher from EFZ, Peddie’s sister school in Shanghai, China, recently visited campus as well as several nearby major cities. Their visit from March 24-April 4 marked the third time that EFZ students have visited Peddie.

Asian Studies Program coordinator Yuan Gao worked with Dean of Students Martin Mooney to arrange for the EFZ students to live in both day students’ houses and in dorms with boarding students.

“We wanted our guests to see a piece of our dorm life,” Gao said. “[Dorms] are not just where people live, but where people grow and interact. It’s what makes Peddie.”

“The [Peddie] dorm is really different [from our dorms] because it’s kind of like a little family,” Wenting “Chloe” Tao said.

Because the EFZ students shadowed Peddie students and attended classes, they frequently compared the two schools.

“The first thing about Peddie that impressed me was its class atmosphere,” Zhiwan “Judith” Xu said. “Though each class is long – at EFZ, every class is 40 minutes – the time flows.”

“[Peddie puts] much emphasis on training students [in] critical thinking,” Hongqiao “George” Chen said. “The students will actually make a debate. To express the ideas and thoughts and to think in different ways is very useful.”

Jiacheng “Bill” Wu participated in the Reeves Speaking Contest, where his speech “Never Never Start A New War” won third place.

In addition to experiencing academic and residential life, the EFZ students also spent a weekend in Washington, D.C., where they visited the White House, the Capitol building and several monuments and museums.

“It was refreshing to know that although we live in different countries and have extremely different cultures, we’re extremely similar and can relate to one another and laugh together,” Samantha Blake ’13 said. “It was also great to see the EFZ students learn more about US government and become so comfortable in America that they started talking to strangers on the Metro.”

Upon their return from D.C., the EFZ students visited the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, and later toured Princeton University campus and cultural attractions in New York City, including Ground Zero, the Metropolitan Museum and a Boston Symphony concert at Carnegie Hall.

The group then traveled to Las Vegas to visit tourist attractions on the west coast before returning to Shanghai.