By Cate Pitterle (’20)

The Chinese exchange students visited CA last month, spending six days with their CA host families before continuing on to New York.

The exchange students went to classes with their host students on Monday, February 12th, then spent the next two days in the Raleigh area, going to museums, seeing the Capitol Building, and touring Duke University and UNC. They left Thursday morning and stayed in the United States for another week before heading home to the city of Zhengzhou, where they attend the Henan Experimental School.

“I’ve had tons of fun with my exchange student,” said Samantha Dietrich (’20), who has taken Chinese since 6th grade. “We went to Frankie’s, which was super fun, and to the Carolina Hurricanes hockey game. We also went shopping at the mall with a group of other students.”

Though the Chinese students’ time with their host families in America has ended, the students will get to see each other in a few months. The CA sophomores will travel to Zhengzhou to spend time with their exchange students’ families in June. While in China, the CA students will also visit Shanghai and Beijing and see iconic landmarks such as the Great Wall and Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl Tower.

“I can’t wait to go to China,” said Dietrich of the upcoming trip. “My exchange student has told me a lot about Zhengzhou, and it sounds really cool. I’m also excited to try hot pot and go to the Great Wall.”

The Chinese are the first foreign exchange students to visit CA this year. The German students visit March 17, and the French students come on April 26. The students from Pilar and Quilmes arrive on April 11 and April 14, respectively.