česky
english
US Project – Students Exchange to the USA | 2010-08-25
On May 21, 2010, a group of students left Ostrava by train, headed for Prague, which was the first destination on a trip that would take them to the state of Washington, in the American Northwest. Not all of the students were on the train, but those that were, headed for Charles University, in Prague, where they stayed in the dormitories. They met the rest of the group at the Prague airport on Saturday, May 26, where they boarded a plane that would take them to the United States, via Amsterdam. With one stop in Minneapolis, the final destination for the students was Seattle. The total flying time was around fourteen hours. Mrs. Johnson was at the airport to meet the group. Once there, the group was divided in half, and they were split between two cars. One car was chauffeured by Mr. Petrus, and the other, by Ms. Mazurova. The car trunks were not very full in the beginning, because eight of the students temporarily lost their luggage, which, fortunately, arrived the next day at their destination.
The cars headed to Bellingham, Washington, which was a two-and-a-half hour trip, and the destination was the Squalicum School, in front of which were waiting the host families for everyone. It was already near midnight, so, after an exhausting journey, everyone simply went to their various houses and went to bed. Bellingham, as it turns out, is a city in the northwest corner of Washington state, with a population of 70,000 people, including around 20,000 students. The city is attractive and virtually unpolluted, and has been recognized in the U.S. as one of the most livable places in the country. The weather is pleasant, and there are many activities offered there including beach sports, kayaking, fishing, soccer, cycling, and lots of other things to do. Its location near Canada places it close to Vancouver, and Seattle is also a close destination. There are many special activities, such as the Ski-to-Sea race, and, mixing seven different sports, forms a 90-mile race from the top of Mt. Baker, and ends at Bellingham Bay. Accompanying it are special events, such as a historical hometown parade. Its large college community adds to the excitement of living there. The city is surrounded by natural beauty, and is closely located to the Cascade Mountain National Park.
The first day in Bellingham saw the group going to the Squalicum School with their host brothers and sisters. The name, Squalicum, originates with local Native American tribes. It is a rather large school, with around 1,500 students. Each grade has about the same number of students as are in our entire school. We found that many students either drive or go by school bus to school each day. Lessons are 80 minutes long, with school starting at 7:45 AM and ending at 2:15 PM. Lunches are served in the school cafeteria, or else the students bring their own. The biggest differences are in the way of teaching in the classroom, where the lessons are more interesting, and the students never ask why or why not. What was to like in the school was that the subject you want to learn changes all the time, from week-to-week. Students sit at desks that are for only one person, and teachers are friendlier to students, so this helps you to have more trust in them.
We also visited a community college in Bellingham. Having visited some universities, this was the first chance for us to see a college. We had trouble finding the place, but when we got there, we found a convenient place to park, which was great because we were too tired to face a long walk. We met our guides in an official building, one a man, and the other a woman, who looked like she was a student, but actually was not. The use of guides seems to be a good way of introducing school to potential students. We listened to a presentation where the speaker talked about the fact that they had a lot of international students from all around the world. The community college seems like a good place for international students to be able to practice learning in English for a couple of years, and becoming more proficient before transferring to a college or university. The college also organizes many activities for the students, such as ski trips. One advantage of starting at a community college is that it is cheaper, around $8000 per year. It was also a friendly environment, with people smiling at us, which was totally different than in the Czech Republic. This is a good reason for looking to go to school somewhere abroad.
The group visited the University of Puget Sound, in Tacoma, Washington, which was established in 1888. It is about two hours from Bellingham. There are around 3,000 students there, with about 50 courses of study. The students can also focus on electives such as music, physical education and sports, languages, or other areas of special interest. A student can choose to go to the music building to play the piano, or find instruments in other facilities, such as dormitories, where there are excellent facilities for studying or for free-time activities. Students can also join sports activities, or participate in language studies at special language halls, where students can go to practice speaking with others in that language. The tuition here is set around $30,000, at least, plus one can figure on an additional $10,000 with fees, books, dormitories and residences, and other expenses. There is financial aid available, and about 50 percent of the students hold scholarships. Others work on campus or in the area to support their college expenses.
The University of Washington in Seattle was founded in 1961, and has more than 40,000 students studying there, in the over 500 buildings and 20 million square feet of space. There are sixteen separate departments and offices. Their campus is on the waterfront, with excellent views of the Cascade Range, in the east, and the Olympic Mountains, farther west. There is an outstanding view of Mount Rainier, in the southwest, and the university has a mall with a springtime spectacular blooming of cherry trees planted all along it. The location makes it a fine school choice.
Besides visiting colleges, we also got to see the Pacific Science Center and the Space Needle. These were entertaining, but also educational; however, we found that the Science Center was aimed at a young age group. The Center is a popular destination for Washington schools, and we noticed five different schools attending on the day we were there. Since we only had two or so hours to spend there, we didn't get to see all the experiments. This would take a full day, and then some. There were some interesting experiments that we managed to try out, such as the reaction test, to see how good one's reaction times and eyesight are. The Science Center also contains the Boeing Imax 3D cinema, featuring a 45-minute film on the Hubble telescope, narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio. We learned how difficult it was to get it operational when it was first in orbit. It was in need of repair in 2000, and after much opposition, it was finally repaired in 2003, because it is invaluable and irreplaceable. The Space Needle, built in 1962, is around 200 meters tall and 42 meters wide. We went up to see the view, which gives a 360-degree view of most of Seattle, and the surrounding countryside and water.
We got to visit the North Cascades National Park, which contains 648,000 acres, and includes glaciers, forests rivers, and much wildlife, such as bears, wolves, lynx, and moose. We hiked in the park and visited a dam, which was almost 200 meters high. The area seemed to be void of human interference, and we all enjoyed the visit.
Everyone wants to thank Mr. Petrus, Ms. Mazurova, and Ms. Johnson for organizing the trip, which was an extremely good experience for all of us, and we all can say that we enjoyed the trip very much.